Girls of a Feather Purr Together
by Arcturius
Summary: (A Gravity Rush fanfic) After a night of mixed drinks and mixed feelings, Kat realizes there could be more to her and Raven's relationship than she had accounted for.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

This story contains **major spoilers** for the entire game of Gravity Rush. Please finish the game, and then come back and enjoy! ~Arcturius

* * *

**Girls of a Feather Purr Together**

Kat stood in front of the fountain in the city-center of Pleajeune, her eyes scanning the night sky. Lit up from the sparkling lights of a city that never knew quite when to call it quits, the air was bright and alive with music and the noise of a plaza of merrymakers and students embarking to enjoy their first night of the weekend. Surrounded by this crowd of people talking and laughing, Kat alone stood quietly, occasionally joining in with the conversation of the two people standing next to her, but mostly just watching the bright darkness above the surrounding buildings, as if waiting for something.

Her odd feline companion, Dusty, jumped up, landing light as a feather on Kat's shoulders, and rubbed against her neck. The boy next to her patted her lightly on the arm, startling Kat out of her reverie.

"She's definitely coming, Kat." Newt smiled at her. "Take a note from Dusty, and don't worry! She probably just got held up."

Echo, standing with Newt's arm across her shoulders, piped up, "Yeah, she seemed excited to join us. This is the first time she's going for a night out in our city right?."

Kat nodded at the pair. "Well it's only like my third time with you guys too." She looked back at the sky with a troubled look. "But it's already 15 minutes after we said we'd meet. I just hope something bad hasn't happened to—"

"Hey," came a voice from right behind her.

Kat spun around and found herself staring right into Raven's bright blue eyes. She jumped and exclaimed "Raven! Gosh you scared me."

Raven looked at the three of them apologetically. "I'm really sorry I kept you waiting. I'm still bad at judging how long it will take to get places on foot."

Newt looked surprised. "You walked? Why didn't you fly?"

"Yeah where's your…" Echo looked as if she was about to use a word that she decided mid-sentence might be inconsiderate. "….friend?" She finished, rather uncertainly.

Raven jerked her thumb up, and Kat could barely make out a small black avian form perched atop one of the nearby buildings.

Then the dark-haired girl looked down. "I… didn't want to draw attention to myself." She glanced up at Dusty, curled around Kat's neck and said wryly, "But I guess I didn't need to bother."

Dusty mewed softly at Raven and then dropped upwards off of Kat and fell towards the raven sitting above.

Kat took no notice, however, as she had finally realized what had been nagging at her mind every since laying eyes on Raven. She looked, in fact, totally different from usual. Her long hair was done up in an elegant bun, that was somehow devoid of its usual red, leaving just a dark, deep black. She had changed from her usual flowing, revealing black outfit, into a pure-white dress that covered her chest tattoo modestly, with dark blue accents and trim, and a skirt that reached to just above her knees that fluffed out lightly. Her long, pale legs extended beyond, drawing the eye, and on her feet were cute white flats with little blue bows.

Kat hadn't even realized the guarded, headstrong girl she'd fought both against and with had such a cute side to her. But here she was, looking both drop-dead gorgeous and adorable in a way that made Kat a little jealous. She suddenly, acutely felt that her simple black shirt and shorts weren't anywhere near sufficient in comparison.

Raven noticed Kat staring and suddenly looked at her feet, shuffling them a little.

Kat felt a bit stunned and didn't know exactly what to say first, so Newt was the first to comment. "By the way, Raven, that getup's awesome. Don't think anyone would even recognize you. But you'll definitely still be drawing a lot of attention you know. Just of a different sort."

Raven smiled and said, "Thanks, Newt. Also call me Sachya, okay? I want to try avoiding being the girl who helped save Hekseville for tonight."

He grinned. "Sure. You did mention before that was your real name. Sorry, old habits die hard, but I'll try. Echo, you helped her pick the dress out, right? Great job."

"Yeah, I did," Echo said, smiling at Raven. "It looks even better on you than it did on the mannequin. What do you think, Kat? Is she going to be getting all the guys or what?"

Raven glanced back at Kat awkwardly, and Kat noticed the usually unaffected, stoic girl actually seemed to be shy.

Raven said quietly, "Yeah.. I know… It's a bit different."

Kat shook her head, and said falteringly, "Wow, no, I… wow. You look, like, really killer. Honestly… Just, wow." She cleared her throat, and said truthfully and a little more clearly, "You look gorgeous, Raven."

Raven smiled at her a smile that would have charmed the heart out of any young man's chest. Kat wasn't a young man herself but she realized she understood where they'd be coming from on this. She kicked herself for calling the girl Raven again though.

Newt slipped his arm off Echo's shoulder and dropped it down to hold her hand. "Alright, now that we're all here, let's get going! To the bars!" He started off, waving the two girls to follow.

Raven stepped after him, ignoring the many stares from passerby that she and Kat were getting. Kat had a sinking feeling that in her company they might still recognize the dark-haired girl as the renegade-turned-hero, Raven. She hadn't even thought about it, but she realized Raven must still feel guilty about having been a wanted criminal in Hekseville. Kat had tried to reason with her that it was all that awful D'nelica's fault, that he had tricked and forced her into acting against the best wishes of the town, but Raven still felt bad. Even though public opinion was more than willing to forgive her early attacks on their city and protectors. Anyway, that's probably why she had gone through the trouble to dress up and wear clothes that were so unusual for her.

Kat glanced up at the two strange animals up in the sky, and tried to motion for them to stay out of sight and above the ground, but also to follow after them. It probably ended up looking like she was trying to fend off a swarm of small bugs from around her face. But the bird hopped on Dusty's back and the cat bounded off the rooftop towards where Newt, Echo, and Ra—Sachya were walking. So maybe her strange motions worked. Or maybe the odd creatures were just better at understanding people than Kat felt she herself was.

Sachya looked back and said "Coming, Kat?"

Kat smiled and shouted "Yep!", skipping after the dark-haired girl. She caught up and grabbed Sachya's arm in hers. They walked side by side, arms linked, following their two friends.

Kat leaned close to Sachya as they walked through the streets full of people and said in a low voice, "I'm really glad you came. I've been out with Newt and Echo a couple times before but they're always so.." She rolled her eyes and inclined her head at the two lovebirds, who were holding hands and engaged in conversation about which of the various bars in the area they should be heading to. "So very…_That_. It's hard not to feel like the odd one out or something."

Sachya glanced at the two and said, "I see what you mean. They're really good together, huh?"

Kat faked a yawn, "Yeah, well, childhood friends turned lovers when they discovered their long-coveted feelings for each other were mutual and they were made for each other. Blah blah."

Kat had pretty much gotten over her initial crush on Newt, to the point where she was able to poke fun at herself about it. She turned back to Sachya and said brightly, "But now I've got you! So I don't have to be the third wheel." She squeezed the girl's arm tightly.

Sachya smiled at her and said, "Yeah. And thanks for inviting me. This is all new to me."

Kat gasped and exclaimed "Oh my gosh, I just realized, we should totally try to get Yunica to come sometime!"

Sachya laughed out loud at that, "Hah! No way, she wouldn't come. She's too formal, and, now that the military's in restructuring, really busy too. I can't imagine her setting aside her hand-cannon of a lance and the rest of that 'Sea Wasp' getup to dress up for a night out."

Kat nudged her, "Well look who's talking. You're here, and dressed up even, I might add! Seems to me like anything is possible at this point!"

Their banter continued until the four friends reached their destination. They entered, sat down at the bar, and ordered a round of drinks. Newt and Echo filled them in about the recent goings on and gossip at Arquebus Academy, and their personal plans for next year. Rounds of shots, and glasses of the fruity, exciting alcoholic concoctions of Pleajeune went by in a whirl. Kat realized that she'd probably had enough to drink when she started hiccuping every time she laughed. She also considered herself pretty well-acquainted with gravity at this point, but when she got up to use the restroom it seemed the dang thing was pulling on her in all the wrong ways; she could barely walk straight. Echo was flushed a bit and kept absentmindedly twirling her finger in Newt's hair, which was in turn distracting Newt some from his recounting of the effects that the recent Sea Anemone debacle had had on the Academy's class schedule.

Even Rave—Sachya looked like she was having a good time. She wasn't talking much, but she was quick to smile at Newt's jokes and was keeping up with them all drink-wise. Kat watched her out of the side of her eye. The way the dark-haired girl laughed and the way she sat… it was all so alluring. Kat found herself scanning the bar for men more than once, not so much to look for cute boys, but more to check to see how many of them were looking at Raven. Maybe it was the light, but the bottom half of her hair seemed to be somehow slowly regaining its bright red hue. Kat wondered how long it took her to do her nails like that, and found herself imagining Raven sitting alone in the hotel room that the government had provided, wrapped in a bath-towel, her long legs tucked against her chest as she applied the polish. While she was lost in thought, Raven happened to notice Kat staring, and Kat looked away quickly. It seemed to Kat that this bar was a couple of degrees too warm, even for a summer night such as this.

Time seemed to lose track of itself somewhere between the blue of Raven's eyes, the fiery red of Newt's hair wrapped around Echo's finger, and the laughing of friends. Kat was really glad she had a group of people she was able to spend days off with. She recounted for them her adventures in Gade's rift planes, although she left out the odd old man himself and the fact that he would have her jump into a spinning star-hole under his jacket to get her there. Raven joined in then, talking about Kat of all things, telling them all about how the two of them had fought under the boiling red walls of the Inferno realm.

"This girl here handed my ass to me, although I didn't admit it to myself at the time. You've got one hell of a kick there, Kat" Raven grinned slyly at her, resting her head on her hand, her blue eyes hooded with alcohol or mischief. Kat wondered how much of a difference there was.

"I said I'm sorry!" Kat protested. "And I didn't beat you that badly or anything. If anything it was a tie…"

Raven raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"…That I guess I kinda sorta won a little," Kat finished grudgingly.

"So that's actually where you recovered parts of Pleajeune from, isn't it?" Echo looked amazed. "Well I can't pretend to really understand what you mean when you talk about Rift planes and Magma-walls, but it all sounds very exciting."

"Yeah," Kat added thoughtfully, "But you should have seen Boutome. The village they had set up there is really cool. And that's where Ra—Sachya and I really started working together."

Sachya nodded, but it seemed to Kat like her smile faded ever so slightly.

"Oh, look, Echo!" Newt said excitedly, "It's Polgara and Draft!" He was pointing at a tall girl and a dark-skinned boy standing with her, who looked decidedly drunk. Newt turned back to the table and explained, "They're in our class at Arquebus." He waved and when the girl named Polgara noticed him, she tapped Draft, who smiled when he noticed the table, and the two started making their way over.

When they got to the Kat's table (Draft almost forgetting to stop, and looking dangerously close to bumping into it), Polgara said "Hey Newt, Echo. Fancy meeting you here. And who are these tw-"

Draft piped up, interrupting excitedly, his eyes bright behind his glasses as he looked at Kat. "Oh wow! Is that the Gravity Queen?! You weren't kidding Newt, you really do know her!"

Kat glanced sideways at Newt who sort of shrugged and grinned guiltily. He held up a finger in a gesture of pacification and said, "Note that I don't go around bragging about it or anything, Draft's just a good friend."

Kat smiled shyly, "Hey, no problem. I don't mind. Nice to, uh, meet you."

Draft adjusted his frames and then noticed the other girl sitting next to Kat. His mouth fell open a little, "Oh my gosh, and you.. aren't you that other shifter? Raven? Wow, I can't believe two of Hekseville's famous saviors are here together!"

Newt's eyes got a little wider and Echo punched him in the arm lightly. Raven was staring at the drink in her hand.

Newt cleared his throat and interjected quickly, "No, hold on Draft, this isn't… Her name is—"

"Yeah, I'm Raven." Raven interrupted, looked up at Draft and nodding. Kat tried to figure out what she was thinking but the girl's face was mild and expressionless.

"Gosh!" Draft said, "That's specular. Er, _Spectacular_! You two were really something, going up against that crazy military thing. I news it! I mean, I saw it on the news!"

"Thank you, by the way," Polgara added, looking from one girl to the other kindly, "I don't want to think about what state our city would in right now if it weren't for you two."

Kat smiled somewhat nervously and Raven said, "Don't mention it."

Raven stood up slowly, her white dress sparkling faintly in the lights of the bar. "It's a little hot in here. I'm gonna step outside for a bit. Excuse me."

Kat watched her turn and weave through the tables, her bun definitely streaked with her signature red again. She hoped Raven was ok. Things were going so well tonight, she could almost have made it all the way through without being recognized as both the girl who saved Hekseville, but who also had, behind the scenes, been basically forced into fighting for its continued separation and dissolution. Not like it was Draft's fault… if anything, Kat felt like it was more her own fault. Maybe Raven should come out with Newt and Echo alone next time…

Draft and Polgara pulled up chairs and struck up conversation immediately. Draft looked like he wanted to barrage Kat with questions but Polgara, probably noticing the worried glances being thrown towards the door Raven had exited, thankfully nudged him and steered the conversation back towards Arquebus. A few minutes passed (it felt more like an hour to Kat), but Raven hadn't come back inside yet. Kat glanced back at the table and saw Echo looking meaningfully at her, trying to get her attention. Echo subtly cocked her head towards the door in a "Go!" motion.

Kat smiled gratefully and stood up quickly. A little too quickly, she realized as she gripped the table to steady herself. Apparently the alcohol hadn't completely worn off yet.

"I'm gonna go, um, check. On her. I'm sure she's fine but uh, yeah. It was good to meet you both." She added, looking at Polgara and Draft. Polgara nodded and Draft looked a little dismayed.

"Aren't you coming back?" he asked, plaintively.

Newt smiled, "I'm sure they are, but Kat, take your time."

Kat caught his wink, but wasn't totally sure what it meant.

"Yeah, um… right. Ok, back in a tick!" She stood more carefully, her balance under control now, and made her way outside.

A quick scan of the few groups of people standing outside the bar in the street told Kat that Raven wasn't anywhere around down here. Without hesitation, Kat called up into the sky, "Dusty! Come on down."

A few seconds later the star-flecked cat descended quickly from the sky above, and landed unnaturally gently with a meow right next to Kat's foot. Kat bent down and sat on her heels, speaking to Dusty earnestly. "Hey, have you seen Raven? You were hanging out with her bird right?"

Dusty purred confidently and flicked its tail toward one of the taller buildings viewable from their spot on the ground. Kat rubbed its head and stood up. "Great. Let's go."

She felt the usual sensation of her body growing weightless as she lifted off the ground, floating off the tips of her toes. She heard gasps and shouts coming from the people around her, and looking down at her arms she remembered that her whole body always turned a dark, otherworldly, starry red whenever she used Dusty's power. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that part of using gravity. The rest of it, she'd come to realize, was pretty great.

Suddenly, the world flipped upside down, and Kat was hurtling feet-first towards the top of the building Dusty had indicated. She heard a shout of terror from behind her and as she glanced back she saw that a man walking out of the bar behind her must have accidentally gotten caught in her field, and was hurtling alongside her. His mass then broke out of her personal gravity and he flew toward the side of the nearest building. Kat yelped and her arm shot out, using a bolt of her powers to direct him into landing gently, if a little ruffled, in a nearby tree. She really had to work on not accidentally picking up random people when she fell around.*

When she reached the top of the building, she saw Raven sitting on the far ledge, leaning on her palms, legs dangling over the street many floors below them. Most people would probably feel some vertigo but both Raven and Kat had gotten more than used to enormous heights. Raven was still wearing the dress from before but her beautiful waist-length hair was down from the bun, and as Kat had suspected, was back to its usual two-toned color scheme. Raven's companion had been sitting on her shoulder still as stone, but turned its head toward Kat as she appeared, and cawed. Kat touched down on the roof, and Dusty, reappearing, scampered off to the side. Raven's bird joined and they began to play fight.

Kat stepped forward towards Raven, and saw her reach up and rub her arm across her face. But her voice was quiet and steady when she spoke.

"Hey," she said, and patted the ledge next to her, without looking back.

"Hey Sachya," Kat said, as she stepped forward and lowered herself to sit right next to the other girl. She looked over and was about to continue but got interrupted.

"Nah, it's ok. You can call me Raven." Raven said, still looking out over the city skyline.

"Oh, whew. Ok," Kat smiled at Raven. "I was having trouble thinking of you as Sachya. Honestly, to me, you're probably always going to be Raven…

"A-and I think that's good!" Kat quickly added. "Everyone loves you now. They know you saved the city, so the rest shouldn't matter."

She looked for some sort of confirmation from Raven. "Uh… right?"

Raven smiled back wryly, meeting Kat's eyes for the first time on the rooftop. They were the same brilliant blue as ever, perhaps even more bright from the lights illuminating the city below. But they also looked a little red around the edges, underneath her eyeliner.

"Yeah, I'm actually ok with Raven. I've been Raven so long that it's… just who I am." She brought her hands in front of her and, in an uncharacteristically vulnerable way, starting absentmindedly picking at her nails as she stared down at nothing in particular.

"If anything, it's just that… It's 'Sachya' that I'm not comfortable with being yet."

Kat thought she understood that. They sat in silence for a little while until Raven spoke again.

"Thanks for not asking me about my past back there, about how I got from Boutoume to Hekseville and all. Everyone else was sharing their stories at the bar and I… I guess I'm not quite ready yet."

Kat nodded, and scooted closer, placing her arm lightly around Raven's waist. The summer night was gentle and warm, so the gesture was more out of comfort than anything else. "Hey, yeah. It's ok. I figured you might need some time. No worries."

Raven, seeming to accept the arm around her, nodded. "When Newt was about to introduce me as Sachya to those two other students, I found myself wondering if that's really how I wanted to be called by the people of this city. I tried it out tonight, but… It's no good. It's still so foreign to me. I mean, yeah, Sachya used to be me, but now…"

Raven trailed off, her voice sad. Kat squeezed her a little. Raven paused, then sighed deeply, and continued, "When you mentioned Boutoume too, it reminded me. About… Zaza. And the others."

Kat saw the other girl's eyes flick toward where they both knew the Ark was being held safe, surrounded by a team of scientists working diligently trying to find a way to open it and free the children locked inside. Even Kat, with her gained ability to see into the realm beyond, to view what wasn't there before, had been unable to open the door. It seemed like something about the trip through Gade's portal during the fight rendered the Ark inert somehow. Gade didn't know what happened, and whatever Cyanea had to say on the matter was as cryptic as always.

"So that's why I came out here," Raven concluded. "Although it actually did feel hot in there too, I wasn't lying."

Kat said, "Ah, I'm stupid. Sorry, Raven. I shouldn't have brought up Boutoume. You know, everyone's working as hard as they can to find a way to save those kids. They'll get them out. Zaza too. Just wait and see."

Raven sighed again, interlacing her fingers in her lap, the black and red of the polish contrasting with the white of her dress.

"But what should I do when they finally get it open? What should I tell Zaza?" She said, looking lost.

Kat took a deep breath, "Well, I mean, Zaza really misses his little sister… And it sounded like he blames himself for her disappearance. He showed me the picture he had too. I know he'd be overjoyed to find out that she was still alive, not to mention that she's been looking out for him and his little makeshift village all this time."

"But you just said it yourself," Raven said. "He misses his _little_ _sister_. For him, Sachya disappeared one day and never came back. How can I go up to him now and tell him that _I__'__m_ Sachya? I'm older than him!"

She was talking more loudly now, the words sort of spilling out. Her eyes looked like they were watering a little and she clenched her fists in her lap.

"I'm older than my older brother, Kat. How _fucked up_ is that? All that time I spent here, searching for some way to get them all home, all those years… And it was just days for them! And as for me, I've been Raven here in Hekseville for so long… Longer than I've ever even been Sachya, actually. You saw the picture! Do I look like that now?! Zaza himself didn't know who I was when he saw me… It hurts, Kat, when your big brother looks at you and can't even recognize you. Maybe I'm just a different person now. Maybe Zaza's Sachya should just stay missing…"

She stopped, trying to recompose herself a little. Kat rested her hand on Raven's fist, gripping it gently. She wasn't sure exactly what to say, but she knew she had to say something. That was the most Raven had ever opened up to her in the weeks they'd known each other.

"Listen, Raven… I don't know what it's like to have siblings. I don't remember anything about my life before I found myself on Hekseville. So I don't really know what you're going through exactly. But… you should have seen Zaza when he talked about you. He loves you, Raven. And that's not going to change no matter how old you are. You guys are family. And that's important. Everyone needs… people to rely on. It's hard to be alone, we both know that. Our little astral buddies are great, but you need people."

Raven's hand unclenched and Kat smiled, weaving her fingers slowly in between Raven's, trying to comfort her friend. "Besides, we did the hard part already. We found a way to get them all here. So while the capable people of Hekseville work on opening the Ark, you have time to figure out what you want to say to Zaza."

Raven nodded and smiled a small smile, "Yeah, I know. And really, I'm so relieved. I was so worried I could never save them." Her eyes met Kat's again, and softened. It dawned on Kat how close they were sitting. Kat could even smell Raven's perfume. It was dark, sultry and mysterious; perfect for her, but somehow in contrast to the cute little white and blue dress she had on.

"You know, I don't think I would have been able to do it alone. So… Thank you, Kat. Really. For everything"

Kat smiled at her, blushing a little despite herself, "Oh, it was nothing. It's not like I could have done it alone. We make a good team."

"Yeah.. You know, I'm really glad I have you around, Kat. I haven't had to be alone ever since that moment with Nushi on the Ark."

Raven closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed for the third time, but this time Kat was totally surprised when she leaned over and Kat felt Raven's body rest against hers. Her fingers were still entwined with Raven's, and her arm was still wrapped around the girl. Raven let her head fall on Kat's shoulder.

Kat sat there, holding Raven, not quite sure how she'd gotten into this situation, and also wondering why the world was still spinning a little. Had it always been doing that?

Raven was quiet too, but then she said, "Also… I'm… pretty drunk."

She giggled then, which to Kat seemed even more surprising than having her lean up against her, and added, "…In case you hadn't noticed."

Kat smiled, and admitted, "Yeah, I'm still drunk too, I think. I'm pretty sure Dusty's not doing anything but my insides feel totally upside-down."

Raven's voice came faintly from her shoulder. "Yeah, I know the feeling…"

Kat couldn't really turn to look down at Raven but she leaned her head over and rested her cheek against Raven's hair. She was so warm, and still smelled really good.

The two girls sat just like that for a while. Kat stared out over the city the two of them had helped to save, and she was glad she had someone like Raven that she could rely on. Being this close, holding her, feeling Raven breathing in sync with her, and the girl's incredibly soft and warm body against her own… it just felt _right_. It felt like home in a way that Kat hadn't felt since she had put together that little makeshift home in the sewers. This might even beat that out, Kat reckoned. She wondered if this is what having a sister felt like. Or maybe this was different. A best friend, perhaps?

Raven broke the comfortable silence first. "I feel kind of bad about ditching Newt and Echo. Not enough to move, mind you..."

Kat said, "Nah, don't worry about those two. They have all they need in each other. And besides, they also have Draft and that other girl, Pol…gara, to chat with. I don't think they expected you back any time soon."

"Mm, good." Raven murmured as she nuzzled her head closer into Kat's neck. "I'd rather be here right now anyway. That 'Draft' kid looked like he was about to explode with questions about gravity and whatever."

Kat laughed, "Oh my Creator, you're totally right, he was! He sat down after you left and I could tell he was just about to drop them all on me. Thank goodness that date of his pulled him out of it. I'd like to be able to go one night without someone asking me how I don't go splat when I fall from the top of the clocktower."

"Called it," Raven chuckled.

"Speaking of dates…." Kat segued slyly, poking Raven playfully in her side. "I saw many a cute boy back in that bar that seemed really interested in the beautiful, mysterious girl with black hair in the cute little white dress. You sure you don't want to go back, take a look at your pickings?"

Suddenly Kat felt Raven's body stop moving and go kind of rigid against her. Kat lifted her head, glancing down at Raven's head and paused, suddenly unsure what she'd said. She couldn't see the expression on Raven's face.

Raven didn't say anything for a few more seconds, and when she did speak, Kat got the feeling she was trying to choose her words carefully.

"You should know, Kat, that that's actually… not really my thing. Cute boys, I mean. I had a good time at the bar, but I wasn't paying attention to the guys…"

Kat said, "Oh, well, that's cool, tonight wasn't really about that anyw—" Then something occurred to her. Her eyes flew wide and she gasped in realization, and Raven flinched almost imperceptibly.

Kat's mouth had stopped working, "Oh, wait do you mean… OH. _Ohhhh_. No, wait… Do you mean…"

Raven didn't say anything, still rigid and unmoving against Kat.

Kat tried to finish the thought that was suddenly taking up most of the space on the roof. "So you… like… _girls_, then?"

Raven removed her hand from Kat's, and quickly stood up, lifting herself out from under Kat's arm. Dusty and the bird, who had been standing together on the chimney cover nearby, looked at the two girls, startled by the sudden movement.

Kat looked up in dismay at Raven, who wasn't looking back at her. Raven's face was turned away from Kat.

"Yeah, I do, actually. And I just made things weird. Sorry Kat, I didn't mean…" Raven shook her head slightly, and looked down at the street below them. Her blue eyes looked hard. "It must have been the alcohol, I let myself get a little too comfortable. Don't worry, I won't get the wrong idea or anything."

Kat stood up too, too shocked by the revelation and the rapid turn of events to put cohesive words in her mouth. "No, Raven, I…"

Raven took a deep breath and interrupted, "Ok, I should probably get home. Drink some water, sober up. Thanks for coming up here after me."

She still hadn't looked Kat in the eye. The bird left Dusty and flapped on to Raven's shoulder, and Raven's body glowed a deep, bright blue. For the umpteenth time that night the thought of how beautiful Raven was flitted through Kat's mind. She suddenly desperately reached forward and called out the girl's name as she grabbed her arm, just as Raven was about to step off the edge of the building.

Raven finally looked back at Kat as she stepped back on to the roof, her body's hue returning to normal, the white dress again sparkling in the light from Pleajeune. Kat met Raven's eyes, and in their bright blue depths Kat imagined she saw confusion, and a bit of shyness. She had the distinct and weird impression that if Raven was a turtle**, she'd be about to pull back into her shell.

Kat cleared her throat, not letting go of Raven's arm, and said, "No, Raven, really. Listen. You know… the night doesn't have to end here. And I don't mean going back to the bar. Syd told me about this military party thing he's going to tonight, and…"

Kat took a step back, letting go of Raven's arm, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "It, uh, sounded pretty fancy… Do you want to… umm… stop by and take a look at it… with… me?"

_What the heck am I saying?_ Kat thought, wildly. She realized that at some point during that invitation she had been the one to look away this time. When she looked back into Raven's eyes, they were still looking at her, but the confusion and vulnerability seemed to be mostly gone.

Raven studied her carefully, and said, "You sure, Kat? I can see that you don't swing that way, so… Just so we're clear… As friends right?"

Kat realized that Raven was trying to get it all out into the open now, to leave no misunderstandings, but Kat found that she just wasn't that sure about what she felt or what she wanted. Looking at the other girl standing in front of her, Kat just kept remembering the way Raven had smelled, and the softness of her body.

Kat swallowed, realizing she was now blushing furiously. "I, uh… Raven, I don't know. This is all so… I just…"

She grasped for some way to try to explain how she was feeling. Then one came to her.

"I want to go as…" she continued, and then gestured with her arms down at the ledge they were standing on, where they had been sitting curled together just a couple of minutes ago.

"_That_. I want to go as that. That, just now. And I… " She looked away, feeling terribly embarrassed. "And no, I don't know what that means, really… Sorry. I just know that _that_ felt really nice and… And I think this night is going really well so far and I don't want you to think you've ruined it," she finished in a rush.

Kat took a few breaths, and then looked back at Raven and saw that she was smiling. It was a soft, warm smile.

Raven took a step forward and reached her arm out slowly, catching Kat's hand, and Kat again felt the warmth of another person's hand in hers as Raven entwined their fingers like Kat had done earlier.

"Yeah, ok," Raven said, still smiling. "Sure, let's go crash this party."

Kat grinned, still feeling red in the face, and squeezed Raven's hand gently. Then, as one, the two girls took a step off of the roof and fell together, upward, into the warm, bright, Pleajeune night sky

_Continued in Chapter 2!_

* * *

Footnotes:

* Picking up random townspeople by accident as you lifted off and throwing them alongside you into the abyss as you rocketed through the air was one of my favorite parts of this game so I had to include a reference.

** I'm not sure turtles exist in Hekseville, but whatever. :3


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

First off, thank you so much to Shi-no-Ookami and Uta-Aniki for the reviews on the first chapter. I had always intended for this story to go on longer, I just didn't know when I would get to it. The kind reviews gave me the motivation to push through and finish this chapter. I'm glad I did.  
This one was difficult for me to write, compared to the first. I really tried to get into Kat's head and figure out how she'd feel about the situations. I hope my efforts came across but I still think it's not great. A little too rushed maybe? The end is nice though, if I say so myself. If you can, make it to the end. :)

Final important note: **It gets a little steamy** at the end. Nowhere near explicit, just a bit... y'know. Steamy. So if you have a problem with steam between two girls... why are you reading this story? ;) ~Arcturius

* * *

**Girls of a Feather Purr Together: Chapter 2**

The hall of the largest court building in Vendecentre was bustling tonight. Located in view of Freedom Square, it was one of the older structures left in this part of Hekseville. Surrounded by skyscrapers, the court hall was the last, solemn vestige of a time that remembered the horizon. And tonight, that vestige had cast aside its solemness for the time being, and had donned its party hat with pride. Banners hung across it in colorful fanfare, bright lights streamed out from the windows into the air, and a throng of people loitered outside, chatting and laughing loudly. Engaged in their reverie, no one noticed the two faint streaks of light that were hurtling like meteors through the night toward the hall.

A few seconds later Kat and Raven touched down lightly and noiselessly on the roof of the court building, in exactly the way that meteors don't.

Raven's body faded from astral blue back to normal, and she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, looking down at the people gathered below. Her black and red hair fluttered in the breeze that had begun to pick up. Despite her uncharacteristic white dress, she looked more to Kat like the Raven she was used to than she had all night.

"Wow, look at all of these people," Raven said. "What did you say this party was for, again?"

"It's for the government or something?" Kat stepped forward to stand alongside her. "I think Syd said it was to celebrate the new leadership and moving on from past mistakes? Anyway we were both invited. But when I found out that you were willing to come out drinking with Newt and Echo…"

Kat's eyes flickered over to Raven, and she wondered how the other girl was going to be reading into what she was saying. Finding out that Raven was a lesbian had somehow totally thrown her off her stride. Mostly it was that the feelings of admiration that Kat held for Raven now felt somehow… unrestricted. Like there was a new door that was open…

No, Kat realized, it wasn't a door. It was more like up until now she had been on the top of a cliff that she hadn't even realized _was_ a cliff, watching Raven from far away. And suddenly she was keenly aware that there wasn't any guardrail, and all it would take were a few steps to fall… fall…

Kat smiled. How fitting that she use a metaphor about falling to describe her situation. The truth, though, was that she really didn't know _what _she wanted. Or rather, she hadn't had the time to sit down and think about what she wanted. Even if she had the time, Kat wondered if she'd just avoid it anyway. But maybe…

_Gahh, ok _this_, this is the problem!_ This circle that her thoughts were caught in, spinning around and around. This is what had been happening, ever since she found out, defeating her every attempt to come to any straight conclusions.

_Why is this so difficult? _Kat thought, _Why is my heart beating so hard that I can barely tell if my feet are touching the ground? Why is this only happening now? So Raven__'__s a lesbian, so what?! What does that really change? Can__'__t I just spend time with her now without my hands shaking? I__'__m don__'__t like girls, not in that way__…__. so__… __it__'__s fine. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to get so flustered over._

Raven put her hands on her hips, still looking out over the crowd of people thoughtfully. "You sure we were invited? I don't remember any invitations."

"Huh, what?" Kat asked, broken from her thoughts. "Oh, right, umm, did you check your mail?"

"Mail?" Raven asked, glancing back at Kat, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, your…!" Kat paused, and then slowly threw a hesitant look at Raven. "Wait do you… not know what… mail is?"

Raven scoffed, hit Kat on the shoulder, and said crossly, "Honestly, what do you think I am? I just meant that if I've been getting mail I don't know where it's been going."

Kat rubbed her arm and hopped back a little, "Ow, sorry I just… uh, hmm… actually that's a good point. Can you even send mail to a hotel room?"

Raven shrugged. Raven had actually hit Kat pretty hard, but Kat was glad Raven wasn't apologizing or being extra gentle with her. That would be too weird. It seemed like Raven was able to interact with her totally normally so maybe it was just Kat that was flustered…

_No way, _a small voice in Kat's head said. _You remember the way she leaned against you. The way she reacted when the topic came up. What if she likes y__—_

Kat kept talking, to distract herself. "Well anyway, it doesn't matter. We were invited, so we can just head down. Everyone's gonna know who we are anyway."

Raven shook her head, looking neutrally at Kat. "Nope, don't wanna. I never got an invitation."

Kat looked at Raven, feeling confused, and kind of let down. She said, "Oh, ok… so… you wanna… go, then? We could just go home, it's getting late anyway."

Raven's face broke out into a sly grin, "No way. We came to crash the party, right?" She jabbed her thumb towards the huge, protruding window behind her. "Well that's exactly what we should do."

She stepped forward and grabbed Kat's hand. Kat felt suddenly lighter, and she didn't think it was Dusty this time.

—-

A few moments later Kat and Raven were crouched inside the building, in the corner of the window's outcropping (luckily it had been easy for Dusty to unlock), peering down at the brightly-lit, absurdly huge room. The court benches had all been removed, which left a very large floor-space that mostly seemed to be designated as a dancefloor. There was a group of musicians located behind the judge's bench, playing a quick, lively melody that had the dancers kicking up their heels in the line-dance. There also seemed to be a bar underneath Raven and Kat's window, where the party guests were ordering wine and other alcoholic beverages. The party was fully underway and it looked like the government workers were enjoying themselves.

Kat was glad to see that. Having D'nelica as mayor had been hard on the town. They entrusted their safety to his confidence and power, and ended up sacrificing more of their town, well-being, and liberties than they had been ready to part with. And it seemed that the police had been worried about merging with Jellyfish, the special task-force assembled by Bolney that had been allowed special legal immunities in their pursuit of the Nevi.

When her friend in the police force, Syd, had been explaining the repercussions of that whole year of D'nelica's reign to Kat and Raven, Kat had found herself paying close attention. It wasn't the kind of thing Kat normally considered herself interested in, but somehow the concept of a ruler using their authority to take power over their citizens just irked her deep inside. Raven however, really didn't seem to care that much. Kat had noticed that Raven seemed very anchored in the present, not dwelling on the past. And after their conversation on the top of the building earlier tonight, Kat thought she could see why. Suddenly the sensation of Raven pressed against her flooded back to the forefront of Kat's mind. The warmth of Raven's head pressed against the crook of her neck…

Kat swallowed and realized that Raven hadn't let go of her hand since they had crawled in the window. She looked over at Raven and felt herself turning beet red. _I wonder if Raven can tell that my hand is sweating__…  
_

They sat down together, since the inside window-ledge was large enough for them to do so if they let their feet dangle off the edge.

Raven looked at her and grinned, her blue eyes bright, and incredibly close. "See? Easy as pie. Told you we'd crash this party. Isn't this fun?" She was squeezing Kat's hand.

_No, stop__… __You__'__re too__… _Kat was sure that, in the bright light from the dance floor, her blush was evident.

"Well I must say it's very _you_, Raven," Kat said, as her fingers jerked open on reflex, and while she didn't pull her arm away or anything, from the way Raven's smile faded it seemed like she might as well have.

Raven let go of Kat's hand and looked back at the crowd, biting her lip. Kat felt a little ball of thorns grow in her chest. She hadn't really meant to pull away from Raven's touch. She just felt overwhelmed being so close to her.

_What a hypocrite. _The scene of them sitting together, holding hands on the roof flashed through Kat's mind. Followed quickly by her words to Raven: _"__I want to go as that. That, just now.__"_

The ball of thorns grew and twisted. _What in creation am I doing? What do I _want_? Raven__…_

Raven turned back towards her and she realized she'd said that last word out loud. Kat panicked slightly, searching for words and realized she didn't have any. Her mind raced. She knew she had to figure it out now. Now or never.

_What do I want?_

"_I__ want to go as that__… __that, just now__…"_

_The warmth of Raven right next to me__… __Her smell__…_

"_I can see that you don__'__t swing that way, so__… __As friends right?__"_

_The feeling of home__… __a soft touch__…_

"_I__'__d rather be here right now anyway__…"_

Raven's words.

_She__'__d rather be with me._

_I__'__d__…_

Thump, thump.

Kat had felt Raven's pulse through their entwined fingers on that roof.

_Her heart was beating quickly._

Thump thump thump.

Kat realized it might have been her own pulse she had felt back there.

_"__I let myself get a little too comfortable. Don__'__t worry, I won__'__t get the wrong idea or anything.__"_

That image of Raven's face set firm, her eyes looking away from Kat.

_I cant… this feeling… this confusion… Think, Kat, you dummy!_

"_That__'__s actually__… __not really my thing. Cute boys, I mean.__"_

Newt's face flashed through Kat's mind.

_Oh. I see._

All she could hear in the music and laughter-filled room was her own heartbeat.  
All she could see was Raven's face looking at her.

_What I want__…__._

Thump thump thump thump.  
_  
__What feels right__…_

Raven was looking at her, her blue eyes…

_I want__…_

_..._

_..._

Kat felt something soft and warm against her lips. A pleasant, familiar smell. She opened her eyes and pulled her head back.

Time froze.

Slowly, ever so slowly… like sunlight seeping through the cracks between buildings… like the last drop of rain falling from the gutters… like the first step off a cliff with no railing…

Slowly, it dawned on Kat that she had just _kissed Raven_'s_ cheek.__  
_  
Raven's eyes were wide, blue saucers, staring at Kat.

...

Time cleared its throat and started up again.

The song being played down below got to the really good bit.

The ball of thorns in Kat's chest exploded, and every inch of her insides was filled with the feeling of pins and needles. She felt tingly all over, out of breath, and like her face was about to burst into fire.

She whipped her head away so fast that she was afraid she was about to fall right out of the window and down into the crowd below. She couldn't bear to look at Raven right now. She might explode, or met, or fall to pieces, or die or… Something. Something bad.

Silence reigned as the song played on and the laughter and conversation drifted up loudly from the crowd below them. She heard Raven breathe out. Then in quickly, as if drawing breath to say something. Then out again, slowly.

A couple more seconds later, Kat risked a quick glance.

Raven, Savior of Hekseville (one of them), sat only a couple feet away, dressed in a beautiful, delicate white and blue dress, with matching white flats. She was looking down at the people below. Her long black and red hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, hiding half of her profile. Her right hand was curled in her lap, and her thumb was picking at her nails absentmindedly. Her left hand was raised, resting lightly on her cheek, right around where Kat had k-k-kiiiiiii—

Kat's eyes darted away as the memory flashed though her, her heart still pounding.

_Woah! Ok… That is going to take some getting used __to__._

What Kat had realized during those eternal seconds of manic introspection, was that she didn't like girls.

She had never thought of girls the same way that she had thought about boys. Ever since waking up in Hekseville with no memories to speak of, she had found herself looking at men, interested in the idea of a partner. She had been alone… had really felt isolated. Dusty was great to have around but it was actually partially the cat's fault that she felt so alone. The powers that Dusty gave her had set her apart from everyone else (Everyone else except… well… you know who).

And ever since that moment earlier tonight when she had seen Raven in that dress, looking at Kat for her opinion with those surprisingly bashful eyes, Kat had had this feeling in her chest every time she looked at Raven.

It had taken Kat so long to realize what that feeling was. But it finally clicked. It was the feeling she had had when she first met and spoke with Newt. Probably even stronger.

So Kat had realized she didn't like girls that way.

But after that… kiss… she knew:

She _did _like Raven.

Like, _like _like.

And unfortunately now Kat seemed to be allergic to the sight of her. How ironic.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Kat heard Raven's voice from beside her, "I'm feeling a little too sober for this."

Kat choked out a laugh, and said hoarsely, "Yeah I could use a drink now too, actually."

Raven's hand stretched toward her from her peripheral, and she glanced down and saw that it was offering an empty wine glass to her.

Kat, forgetting her nervousness for a moment, looked over at her. Raven was still sitting next to her, and hadn't moved as far as Kat could tell, but was somehow now holding two empty wine glasses, and extending one to Kat.

Kat exclaimed, "Wait, how did you get those?"

Raven grinned, and Kat felt her temperature rise another degree. She loved it when Raven smiled. How could that girl be so pretty, and how had Kat gone so long without _really _noticing?

The black-haired girl reached out her hand, and looked down at the bar beneath them. Her hand started to glow the same astral blue that her whole body did when she shifted. She squinted her eyes slightly in concentration and a faint blue sphere of energy appeared around one of the unopened wine-bottles sitting behind the counter and the bartenders far below. With a flick of her wrist, the bottle fell upwards towards the two girls. Raven stretched her arm out and caught it neatly as it plummeted past them.

Kat whistled softly._ That_ was impressive. It had been hard enough for Kat to learn how to intentionally pick up multiple things that were near her to throw at her enemies (she could do… about 6 now? Depending on size). But to create a small localized gravity field around an object over 20 feet away… That took some crazy finesse.

Raven cocked an eyebrow at her as if to say, "Pretty damn cool, right?"

"Raven you're amazing! You've gotta teach me that," Kat said earnestly.

Raven glanced away and blushed, smiling. Kat made a mental note on how absurdly adorable Raven was when she blushed, especially in that dress. That was a side of the dark, mysterious girl that she wanted to covet.

"I've just been trying out new stuff. The Nevi seem mostly placated for now but who knows when they'll hit hard again," Raven said as she braced the arm holding the bottle and tapped the cork with her other hand. The cork glowed blue and shot out of the bottle with a loud pop, flying out into the room and arcing to land lightly next to one of the musicians, who played on unfazed and unaware. Raven leaned over and her shoulder brushed Kat's gently as she poured out some wine into Kat's glass, then she leaned back and filled her own glass.

"Well ok but still, you gotta show me. I've never isolated my powers to a part of my body before," Kat said, sipping her wine. She didn't really know the first thing about wine, but this one was tasty enough.

Raven said, "Yeah sure, I'll show you sometime."

They lapsed into silence, sitting next to each other, letting their legs dangle down into the room, and watched the dancers spin around and around in slow circles. The line-dance had dissolved back into couples dancing together.

The two shifters drank their wine slowly, nervously enjoying the moment and each others company. Kat felt that if she let herself worry about what she should do next, or where things were going to go now, she'd panic and get overwhelmed, so she tried her best to push it all from her head.

They finished their first glasses and each started on a second. Kat started to feel the slightest bit fuzzy again, which took the edge off the tingly thorns inside her. She looked over at Raven, and bit her lip. Then she scooted closer to the other girl, her heart beating quickly again. Raven let her move close, so they were touching shoulders. She didn't turn or say anything to Kat though, and Kat realized she probably wasn't sure what to do either. The idea made Kat feel a little relieved.

_She probably doesn__'__t want to scare me off or something__… _Kat smiled. She had come to know that Raven was really sweet and kind beneath her cold and mysterious demeanor.

The two girls sat that way for a while more, their shoulders and arms touching, and their legs mere inches apart. Kat could feel her pulse still going strong, but it was a good feeling. She was nervous, but enjoying herself. She felt happy.

"Oh! Look, Kat. It's Syd!" Raven spoke up suddenly, and pointed down at the crowd.

"Hah, yeah, there he is," Kat said, spotting him without much trouble. He was standing by the wall, alone, looking somewhat out of place. He had his hands in his pockets and kept looking down at the floor and back up again into the sea of people. His white hair was as messy as ever, and he was wearing…

"Is that… oh my god it is!" Kat laughed as she explained to Raven. "That's his 'detective suit'. The same one he wore when we were trying to find Alias, that guy who was terrorizing the city. Don't tell me he only has one suit…"

Raven chuckled. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd have a ton of suits."

They both watched the figure of Syd below seem to make up his mind about something and start to walk determinedly through the room. He reached another figure and started talking to her.

Kat said, "Oh look it's Yunica too. Wonder what they're talking about…"

Yunica looked mostly the same as usual. She hadn't dressed up for the occasion at all, besides using a normal hand attachment on her right arm instead of a giant lance, and ditching her holstered gun, jetpack, and armaments.

_Still though_, Kat thought, _if it__'__s not broke, don__'__t fix it. _

Yunica's crisp military outfit looked really good on her. And when you took the huge intimidating lance out of the picture it was clear she was really rather attractive. She was talking to Syd who looked markedly more nervous than the always cool, composed Yunica. Syd gestured to the dance floor, running his other hand through his hair.

Raven gasped, "Wait, no way… Is he going to…"

Yunica seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. She held out her hand, metal wrist-guard and all, which Syd took gently, and he nervously led her to the dance floor.

"He DID!" Raven hooted. "And she agreed? Oh my Creator. That is a pair I would never have imagined."

The two started to dance together far below, Syd awkwardly leading Yunica though the basic steps of the ballroom dance. Yunica, dutiful as ever, was managing just fine despite her thin metallic prosthetics.

Kat hadn't ever imagined it either. She had felt an odd feeling inside ever since Syd had approached Yunica. It wasn't jealousy exactly… but Kat realized that somewhere deep down she had been pretty sure Syd had a bit of a crush on _her_. She had never really stopped to think about it; unlike with Newt, Kat's initial feelings toward Syd were far more platonic, and she still considered him like her best friend. But it's not like she didn't like Syd… So the idea that he was into her had been kind of nice to entertain.

But seeing him dancing now with Yunica… took that feeling away. Kat knew it was selfish for her to want Syd to like her when she hadn't really thought about him that way, but everyone wants to feel liked.

_Another example of me not knowing what the hell I want__…_ Kat thought, feeling kind of sick of herself. _Here I just decided not 10 minutes ago that I wanted to give this thing with Raven a try and now I__'__d getting all disappointed about Syd? Come on, girl. Get a grip._

She looked over at Raven, who was drinking her wine and looking down at the pair below, smirking and commenting occasionally about Syd's awkward movements and pointing out every time he almost stepped on Yunica's tiny feet ("They're so small, but he's almost stepped on them like 5 times! He _must_ be trying at this point.").

The bad feelings in Kat's chest slowly dissipated as she watched Raven. She really did feel at home by Raven's side. But Kat had realized that her feelings for Raven ran deeper than just friends. That chaste kiss on the cheek wasn't the result of a decision, it was the decision-maker. A selfish one, maybe, but it had worked. After that kiss, Kat really realized where she was at. She… wanted to be with Raven. She wanted to see what would happen. It was electric and exciting and… she wanted more.

Raven noticed Kat's gaze on her and smiled at the blonde-haired girl, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth.

Kat downed the rest of her wine in one gulp, stood up in the window, dusted herself off, and held out her hand. Raven's smile didn't waver as she looked up at the hand extended toward her, but she looked puzzled as well.

Kat grinned at Raven and said, "Let's dance."

Raven's smile faded abruptly and her eyes went wide. She leaned back, away from Kat's hand as if it was going to attack her, "Woah, uh, no. No way, Kat. Sorry but that is _not_ gonna happen."

Kat switched her grin to an exaggerated sad face, "Aw, come oooon. It'll be fun!"

Raven shook her head vigorously, then gripped the window ledge tightly as the shaking seemed to have dislodged her balance a little.

"Nope, nope, no." She pointed down at the dancers below. "One: I'm fine with laughing at people messing up but I'm not about to go about it myself."

She brought her pointing finger up and added another. "Two: I don't really want to go down there. It'll just be a mess of people talking to us and asking for who knows what. Just like that Daft kid back at the bar."

"Okay," Kat said, "No problem. We'll just do it up there, then." She pointed up at the center of the ceiling, which was mostly flat and would have more than enough room for the two of them to dance. "Why not?"

Kat realized she didn't think she'd ever seen Raven look this nervous before. Ever. But she was not about to be deterred.

Raven looked up at her, looked to the ceiling, and back to Kat. She finally said, quietly and pathetically, "I… Listen, if there was _anyone_ in the whole world I would dance with right now it would be you, Kat… But… The truth is… I _can__'__t_ _dance_. At all."

"Oh, what, that's all? Come on girl, I'll teach you. You'll like it. Take my haaand." Kat waggled her extended hand comically.

"Pleaaaase, Raven?" , she added.

She could see Raven's resolve trembling, so Kat thew the cherry on the top. She resorted to puppy eyes.

"Oh no, don't you…" Raven held Kat's gaze for a few moments, then closed her eyes, groaned and reached out and clasped Kat's hand, pulling herself up with Kat's help. She looked away huffily. "If you look at me like that… damn it, Kat. One day those red eyes of yours are going to be the death of me I swear."

Kat giggled, and squeezed Raven's hand. "I will only use my power for dancing and hugs and other good stuff. I promise."

Raven shook her head, smiling despite herself. "You say that now, but I don't think you realize what kind of power you really have over me."

Kat's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly was extremely curious about how long Raven had been harboring feelings for her, but decided it could wait. What she really wanted to do right now was dance with this girl.

Leading Raven by the hand, Kat's skin turned that deep starry red as she flicked her gravity with the help of Dusty (who had been chilling with the bird outside the cracked open window for a while now). Raven turned her similarly astral blue and the two shifters fell lightly up from the window to land, unnoticed by the party-goers, upside-down on the ceiling.

Kat pulled Raven to the center of the ceiling, right above the dance floor. They were both so skilled at shifting by this point, and their stamina so high, that Kat knew they didn't have to start worry about running out of power for at least 15 minutes. Plenty of time.

Raven was looking nervously up at the people below them, but Kat reached up and gently tipped Raven's glowing blue chin back downwards towards her, and Raven's now-glowing eyes, bright and breathtaking, met Kat's.

"Raven. Don't worry about anyone else. No one's looking up, " Kat let her thumb trace Raven's jawline slowly. "It's just us, you and me. All you have to do is follow my lead."

Raven nodded, the nexus of bright lights from her forehead and chest pulsing slightly with her heartbeat, which was evidently pretty fast right now.

Kat wasn't quite sure where her own sudden boldness was coming from but she decided to just roll with it. Also she wasn't quite sure why she knew how to ballroom dance, but she had the confidence she was good at it.

_Maybe it has to do with my past before Hekseville__…_ Kat wondered, but didn't stop to contemplate further.

She took her left hand and positioned Raven's right in it so that they were lightly clasped in the right way. The dark red of Kat's shifting skin contrasted seductively with the deep blue of Raven's.

"I'll take the leading role as the guy, so rest your other hand sort of on my upper arm, like so… " Kat lifted Raven's hand up, and she felt the warmth of it through her black shirt.

Those thorns were back in spades, tingling Kat's skin wherever Raven was touching her. Kat let her right hand lightly snake around Raven's waist, pressing her hand firmly but gently against the small of Raven's back. With her fingertips Kat could feel the blue girl's soft, yielding skin beneath the light fabric of her dress.

The foot of space between the two as they locked eyes was charged with electricity. It was harder to tell Raven's exact expressions when she was shifting and her facial features were this dark and blue, but at this distance, so close, it was easy for Kat to tell that Raven was as excited and nervous as she was herself. Looking into Raven's eyes now, as she was shifting, was like staring deep into space, into the fantastic magnificence of the cosmos. It made you feel small, but also incredibly lucky to be alive and there to experience it. It made you wonder what was further, deeper in the dark recesses of the universe, of Raven herself.

Kat felt if she let this stare go on much longer she would melt, so breaking their gaze, Kat looked down at their feet.

Her hand squeezed Raven's.

"Here, I'll show you the steps. Just follow along after me."

"…Ok, Kat. I'm yours."

—-

A few minutes later and the two of them were swaying, stepping, and spinning across the vast expanse of the ceiling with ease. Raven had caught on really quickly, and while Kat had stuck to showing her the basic steps, she could tell Raven was a natural. Kat herself was surprised at how easily the knowledge came to her. It really felt like this kind of dancing was something she'd been doing for years. However the confidence to show Raven through it, to be a leader and be decisive… that felt new.

Raven was still mostly looking down, concentrating on her steps and trying to not make mistakes. Kat knew by now that Raven was the kind of person that wouldn't allow herself to screw things up. Probably because she had taken on the mantle of responsibility for helping the rest of her friends and everyone that had been stuck down in Boutoume.

But part of Kat was glad Raven wasn't keeping eye contact throughout the dance. It was already so… intense. Being this close to Raven, holding her body and hand as they moved together, following the music coming from below hem… She could feel Raven's heartbeat through their hands, feel her skin move underneath the dress. It was a lot to take in, and having Raven's gorgeous blue eyes to contend with right now too felt like it would be too much.

They danced together, touching lightly, with still some space between them. Both too nervous to make another move, to go any further, but enjoying the contact. Enjoying each other.

"You've really got the hang of this," Kat said, with a smile.

Raven rolled her eyes, "I can tell this is like, the most basic of basics. So it's nothing special that I'm managing."

"No, really, it's not that easy. You saw Syd," Kat said.

Their steps were in sync, their smiles reflections of the galaxies of their faces

"Hah, ok, I guess I can say I haven't stepped on your feet yet, so that's something. You're on a different level though, Kat…" Raven added. "You've got this _down_. How do you know how to dance so well?"

Kat led Raven through a slightly more complicated spin. The dark blue girl followed without a hitch. _I__'__m such a goof, showing off, _she thought with an internal sigh.

"I don't… really know, honestly. Maybe I was a dancer before I landed in Hekseville."

Raven laughed, "Well I don't know about that, but you're a good teacher. I'm having a better time than I thought I would. How about I'll teach you how to do that trick with the wine bottle if you keep giving me dance lessons?"

Kat wasn't sure if she was seeing a reflection of her own skin or not but Raven's midnight blue face appeared to become slightly redder in hue.

"I'd… be happy if this wasn't the last time we did this," Raven finished.

Kat smiled, feeling redder herself, if that was possible.

"Of course, I'd love that. I'm just… sorry that our first time has to be when I look like… this." She nodded towards her glowing dark and red body. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like me, you know? Like this form is some sort of costume."

Raven smiled an azure smile and looked at Kat gently, "Kat… you're always you. Doesn't matter if you're borrowing Dusty's power or glowing red or what. It's always you and I…"  
She paused, seemingly biting down what she was going to say next, but she said, "Well I think you look beautiful."

Kat's heart skipped and she sputtered, "Raven, I…. Uh… I really don't know what to do when you say stuff like that…"

Raven grinned, "But really though. Leading the dance like this, glowing like a stormy night sky, you're like some sort of royalty. A princess… Or…. Or a Queen."

Kat's finger's twitched a little. _Why did that seem__…__. so__… __familiar?_

Raven's glowing eyes got a spark more mischievous. "One could even say… a _Gravity _Queen!"

Kat groaned. Duh, that's why it was familiar, "Gravity Queen" was the name that all the reporters had been using for her since she'd started helping out in Hekseville.

"Oh no Raven, don't start calling me that. It's too weird."

Raven giggled as they kept up their dance together, both stepping lightly and easily now, "Aw, but Kat, what can I call you then?"

"You can call me Kat, silly!" Kat said, keeping up the flirtatious banter.

"Yeah, but that's the name Syd gave you, right? And I know that's your name now and all, but…" Raven said, thoughtfully. "Can I choose a name for you?"

Kat raised a starry eyebrow, "Oh, and what name would you pick, oh mighty name-giver?"

"Hmm…" Raven pondered, with a smile. The smile widened as she locked eyes with Kat again, her eyes twinkling darkly. "Ok. How about I call you Kitty? My little Kitty."

_Oh__… __My__… _Kat hadn't been expecting that. She was about 80% sure her face had now actually burst into flames. She almost fumbled the steps as she found herself unable to meet Raven's eye. Her body was on fire, and her mouth was totally dry.

"Woah… I, uh… I dunno about that one," Kat's voice squeaked. "I don't think I could take it if you called me that."

"Mmm… too bad." Raven purred, her voice positively dripping with sultriness. "I kind of like it."

Kat swallowed. _Eep. What have I gotten myself into?_

Raven winked. "But ok, ok I'll stick with 'Kat'. For now."

Kat let out a sigh of relief, the raging inferno within her only slightly abated.

Then, as if on cue, the song below ended. The two girls disappointedly slowed and stopped, still holding each other at arm's length.

Raven looked up, "Is that it? Is the party over? Lame."

Kat shrugged but stopped halfway through the motion as the musicians picked up again. But they were playing a different kind of song from the lively waltz they had been doing earlier. Kat recognized the kind of music.

"Uhh, ok, maybe we should just stop for now." Kat laughed nervously, and let her arms drop from holding Raven. "Don't want to run out of energy and fall on the unsuspecting people below or anything.

"I can keep going if you can. I was just starting to get the hang of it, too!" Raven put her hands on her hips and frowned slightly, listening to the tempo of this new song. "Hm, it's… a lot slower though. Does it have different steps?"

Kat hoped she wasn't super obvious as she tried to wipe off her sweaty palms on her shorts. "Uhh, yeah, sort of… it's just a bit… different. You know, we don't have to…"

_Why would they be playing this kind of thing at a _government_ party? Hekseville is so weird. _Kat thought._  
_  
But Raven was craning her neck, staring up at the myriad couples above as they started dancing to the music together. Then, her eyebrows raised as comprehension seemed to dawn on her.

Kat didn't have to look up to see what the dancers were doing. "Yeah it's… a 'slow dance'. That's what it's called. It's a bit of a different… feel."

Raven's eyes flicked down to Kat's. "Looks… easy enough. Can you show me?"

Kat bit her lip. This was more than she had accounted for in one night.

Raven noticed Kat's hesitation and backpedaled quickly, "No, wait, Kat. We don't have to. Another night maybe. Sorry, I just… I'm really having a good time so I got… greedy, I guess."

_Greedy__… __Over me? That__'__s so__… __I still can__'__t believe a girl like this wants to be with me._

Kat swallowed dryly and took the leap.

"No, it's ok. Let's try it. Honestly, I'm having a really good time too. _Too_ good, actually… I'm just… nervous. It's a lot to take in, " she admitted, shyly.

At the beginning of tonight, which felt like eons upon eons ago, she hadn't even thought about liking anyone, much less a _girl_, much _much_ less dancing so intimately with one.

Raven smiled but gripped Kat's shoulders and looked at her seriously, "Hey, Kat, listen. I may not have seemed like it all the time, but I'm really nervous too. I _do not_ want to mess this up. This… _you__… _are really important to me. So much so that I don't know how to even express it. I don't want to lose my friend. And… I also don't want to lose the possibility that we could be… more than that? So… I'm really nervous too."

Kat could hear it in her voice, she really was nervous. It made her feel a little better to know that Raven was as unsure about what she was doing as Kat was.

"So if you want to…" Raven continued, taking a breath. "I'd always be happy to be close to you. But we can also take our time! It's not like we have to do everything tonight. I know I've already asked you to do a lot tonight. You've really stepped out of your comfort zone and that must have been really hard. And… creators above, you've done it for _me_ no less. I'm… honestly I can't even say how lucky I feel."

The nebulae behind Raven's eyes and in her chest pulsed and shone brightly. _How can she be so damned articulate right now? _Kat wondered enviously. She was having a hard time processing it all. But she knew she trusted Raven. More than anyone, actually.

_More than anyone__…_

Raven took a deep breath, and held the eye contact. "Because the truth is, Kat… I mean I think you already get the picture, but just so it's out there, because I want to say it.  
"I like you, Kat. I really like you."

_She said it__… __She__… _

Yes, Kat knew already how Raven felt about her. It was obvious up on the roof earlier and if she honestly looked back, there were signs even before tonight that Kat at the time hadn't even realized. Raven must have been trying to hide them so hard, worried about what her straight friend would think if she found out Raven had a crush on her.

But hearing the words still caused Kat's chest to almost burst. _How the hell have I fallen so far for this girl already?_

Kat realized she had to say something so she raised her hands and let them rest on Raven's forearms, which were still extended, holding Kat's shoulders. She tried to compose herself, paused, and then said,

"I… Raven I don't know how it happened… or when exactly… but I… I like you too, Raven."

Raven's hands were shaking just slightly but she was smiling, and Kat figured she knew how the other girl felt a little. Raven moved her hands to take Kat's. They stood there, holding each others' hands, upside-down, far above a room full of over a hundred talking people, as the slow music played on. But for Kat and Raven, they were alone. As far as they were both concerned, the universe was only filled with each other, and this conversation.

Kat continued with a shuddering breath, forcing the words out, "Gosh, I am so embarrassed right now I can hardly talk… I'm… falling for you _so _hard, Raven. Like, it's crazy. And it feels like it started all of a sudden too. Like I went from thinking of you as a friend to... something _way more_ in only one night! And I… It's kind of scary, you know? B-but, don't get me wrong, I really like it! I… _really_ like it… This is all just… really new, and I'm having all these feelings about a _girl, _which is something that I never expected, as dumb as that sounds. Love is love, I know bu—"

Kat's eyes grew wide as she realized what she'd just said. "Waitwaitwait forget that last bit I was rambling, I don't mean that I—"

Raven nodded, still smiling, her black and red hair waving out like a fan behind her, suspended in the reversed gravity, "It's ok, I get it. But let's just stop here then, yeah? It's been a great night. Basically the best night ever, actually. And this is all new to me too, so… It's ok. No rush."

Kat thought, but shook her head slowly, "No, I guess I'm not saying this right… I trust you, Raven. And I want this too, as hard as it still is for me to wrap my head around it. So…"

Kat lowered her eyes and her voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible above the music and the chatter from below. "H-Hold me, ok? Show me… that it's alright. To like a girl. To like you. I-I know I'm being selfish but… would you mind?"

Raven swallowed too, but she put on a grin, "Creators, you are just way too cute. Mind? Hell, I'd love to, Kat. But promise me... that if I go too far, or you feel uncomfortable, you'll tell me, ok?"

Kat smiled, really nervous. She felt like she was shaking a little. Maybe she had gotten herself too worked up about this. It was only a dance, right?

"Ok, I'll try," she said. "Then… alright, you be the guy this time. So put your hands around my waist, here…" Kat felt several tingles as Raven's hands found the correct place above her hips.

"And I…" Kat finished, stepping towards Raven, so their bodies were just inches apart, her nose almost touching Raven's. Kat lifted her arms up slowly and wrapped her hands around around Raven's neck. She was staring into Raven's eyes. It was… still a little intense. So she then… took another small step forward and rested her body against Raven's, her arms bending at the elbows, and her head coming in to rest almost on Raven's shoulder, their cheeks touching.

There was barely any space between them now, most of the entire length of their bodies in contact. Red and blue stars in perfect harmony. Strands of Kat's blonde hair were mingling with Raven's black.

Kat could hear Raven swallow again and realized her mouth must feel as dry as Kat's did.

Raven said, her voice a whisper right next to Kat's ear, because at this distance that's all they needed to talk, "This… Isn't this a little different than the dance most of the people down there are doing? …Not that I'm complaining, mind you,"

"Mmmhmm" Kat murmured in agreement. "This is the advanced technique. You seemed like you had mastered the basics already. Besides… it's, uh, kind of hard for me to look at you right now to be honest. This solves that."

Raven chuckled lightly. They stood still, holding each other close in the embrace, neither moving beyond their breathing. Raven's chest was pressed against Kat's so she could feel Raven's deep breaths, and tried to breathe deeply herself to calm down. Raven's heartbeat was going really fast. Kat was sure Raven could hear her own heart beating really quickly as well.

It felt really _really_ good, having Raven's body against her own. She felt soft, warm, and inviting. Raven adjusted her hands slightly and almost imperceptibly pulled Kat in closer, pressing their bodies together more. It sent electric tingles throughout Kat's body. Raven still smelled really nice too. Kat wanted to ask her later what kind of perfume she used.

"So… are we supposed to move like this?" Raven asked, finally.

Kat blushed and smiled, burying her face into the crook of Raven's neck. "I dunno, I guess? Yeah. A little. Just kinda… sway to the music. I'll follow you."

Raven hands moved against against Kat's sides, sending shivers up her spine, and began to step lightly, slowly, from side to side. At first it was awkward, not having much room to move, but Kat didn't let go of Raven or move her face from Raven's neck. She liked the feeling of Raven's head touching hers, like it had earlier tonight on the rooftop. This was on a whole different level, though.

Quickly though, they found a rhythm together. Slowly, they rocked back and forth, feeling each others' breathing against one another and moving in synch. The music from below guided their slight movements. Really, Kat realized, this kind of dancing seemed almost just an excuse for two people to embrace together, to share the feeling of holding each other and to enjoy the moment. But if that was the case then it was an excuse that Kat needed, so she was happy.

Time slowed to a crawl. Kat wasn't sure how much time had passed since they had first stepped up here, anchoring themselves against the ceiling with their powers, but since she still felt like she could go a bit longer, she reckoned it had somehow only been less than 12 minutes or so. It had felt like at least an hour.

She could feel Raven's breath against her hair, and wondered if her own breathing against Raven's neck felt as good. She closed her eyes and basked in the feeling of having someone to hold her. Someone to comfort her and make her feel like she belonged. She kept her eyes closed, and snuggled closer into Raven, pressing her nose against Raven's collarbone. She could feel Raven exhale slowly at that, squeezing Kat's waist slightly.

That's something Kat had wanted for a long time, the feeling of belonging and now she had it, more strongly than ever before she could remember. She trusted Raven and was so happy to be sharing these new feelings with her. She hoped Raven felt as happy as she did.

Kat got a bold idea, smiled and moved her head up to place a lingering kiss of gratitude against Raven's warm neck.

Raven let out something like a quiet moan at that, which startled Kat a little.

_Wow, _she thought. _That was__… __really__… __sexy._

Kat loosened her arms a little and moved her head back so that she could see Raven's face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open, the bright nebula within her face sparking and glowing. Raven then opened her eyes slightly and looked away, embarrassed.

"You.. surprised me," She said, meekly. "I didn't expect you to do that."

"I liked the reaction, though…" Kat said, looking at Raven's gorgeous, bright face, just inches from her own. "I'll have to surprise you that again sometime."

Raven turned her gaze back and met Kat's eyes. Kat could see her red eyes reflected in Raven's blue ones.

Raven said softly, "It doesn't have to be a surprise you know. Feel free to do that whenever. Just, maybe not in public."

The two girls had seemingly forgotten that there was a crowd below them. They hadn't noticed that with the slow song, many of the people had started to file out and that she party seemed to be winding down.

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other, lost in each others' gaze. Kat bit her lip.

"Raven," she whispered. "When you said that this was new to you too… was that true? Have you never… Was there never anyone…?"

Raven eyes never faltered as she replied, "Nope, no one else. You're my first, Kat."

Kat could smell Raven's sweet wine-infused breath, and felt it brush lightly against her skin. Their noses were so close together that she could sense Raven without actually touching her.

"So… I was your first dance. And your first kiss…" Kat said quietly.

"Yeah," Raven whispered, then let out a shuddering breath that was halfway between laugh and sigh. "Although, that was only sort of a kiss."

"No, I mean…" Kat breathed, their noses past each other now, too close to maintain eye contact.

_…__This one. _

Kat finished the sentence in her head, as she and Raven both moved the last few inches. Kat's eyes closed.

Their lips met.

...

...

The first sensation that registered in Kat's mind was how soft Raven's lips were. They were _so soft_. Kat was lost in the feeling. They barely moved, their lips just barely touching.

An eternity later, Kat pulled away to take a breath. It had only been a few seconds. Kat then realized she could have been breathing the whole time, she had just totally forgotten how.

Kat opened her eyes and saw Raven do the same. Kat licked her lips and breathed heavily for a moment, then said, "Wow, Raven, that wa—mmmfff!"

Raven had cut Kat off by leaning and stealing another kiss. This one was deeper. Raven pressed her lips harder against Kat. Kat, closing her eyes, barely registered Raven's arms tightening around her lower back, pulling her in and up, pressing their bodies together. Raven began moving her lips slightly and Kat, after figuring out the motion, tried to follow suit.

Kat barely had time to think, _How is she so good at this her first time? __…_

Her whole body was alight, lost in the sparks from the nerves on her lips and all over her body as she reveled in the feeling of Raven against her. She realized that her hands weren't doing anything and so she snaked her fingers into Raven's long hair, pulling her head closer. Raven made a noise deep in her throat in response, and slipped her tongue out quickly, flicking it against Kat's lips. Kat's knees, already weak, almost buckled.

Kat slowly opened her mouth, and she felt Raven's open slightly as well, the other girl's rough tongue against her lips, slipping further, against her teeth. Kat shuddered at the pleasurable sensations. She slowly, cautiously, moved her own tongue out an—

_TTSSSSSHHH! ~~_

The sharp sound of breaking glass rudely snapped Kat and Raven from their kiss. They both pulled away and looked around for the source of the noise.

They looked up, and far below them, on the floor of the church hall, the music had ended and the dance floor was empty, which explained why the noise had been so loud. At least half of the guests had left the hall, maybe more, so it was easy to see who was left.

And they quickly saw what had made the noise. Or in this case, _who_.

Kat gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth.

"Seriously," Raven growled. "_Screw_ that guy."

Syd was staring up directly at the two of them from near the bar, so slack-jawed it looked like his chin could reach the floor. A broken wine bottle and glass lay at his feet, the wine seeping out all over the floor. But still he stared at Kat and Raven, unmoving, in a daze. Apparently the sight of the two shifters upside-down, on the ceiling of the party, locked in a passionate embrace… _kissing__… _had just totally fried Syd's mind, rendering him speechless.

It was only a matter of time though before others realized what he was looking at, though.

_We__'__ve got to get out of here. Now! _Kat thought frantically. She grabbed Raven tightly, sensing that her stamina to hold herself upside-down was almost at its limit anyway.

She shouted, "Dusty, now!" She could sense the cat's consciousness as it flashed with power.

"Kat, what are you doing?! We've got to get out through the wind—"

With a flash of red, an astral orb the same color as Kat's skin appeared around the two girls, high above the dance floor. A second later when it shrunk with a quiet noise that sounded vaguely like "WLLAAARP" and vanished to nothing, the two girls were gone.

—-

A few minutes later, a drunk and raving Syd was escorted from the party by a couple of good Samaritans. He kept insistently shouting something about the ceiling, cats and ravens kissing, and hanging upside-down like bats. Everyone around him agreed the best solution was to take the poor guy home for a good bit of rest to sleep it off.

Earlier, a few seconds after the red ball of power had appeared from the hall, a large amount of people who had recently exited the now-ending party were standing outside. They were mostly bidding farewell to each other or engaged in a last bit of conversation before heading home for the night.

If any of them had paused at that moment, and looked to the sky, they might have noticed two dark meteors, one red and one blue, almost invisible against the night sky, flying in a straight line away from the bespangled court building.

And if that person had incredible senses, or was paying extremely close attention, the thought might have occurred to them that the meteors were each vaguely girl-shaped, and they seemed to be holding hands and laughing as they shot through the skyscrapers of Vendecentre and off into the night sky.

But, since no one was looking up at the time, no one had any such thoughts.

—-

_To Be Continued!..._

* * *

Postnote:  
Yaay, you made it! You're the best. Thank you.  
I really hope you liked it.

So the good news: I have at least one more chapter for this story in mind. _AND _I'm plan on writing other Gravity Rush fanfics.  
The other news? Not all of it's going to be appropriate for this website. Some of it's going to be explicit, sexually.

When I write the next chapter of this story (hopefully soon but it takes me forever to write, honestly!) I'll upload a censored version to this website, and host the explicit version on a different website.

But that's a problem for another time. Again, thanks for reading this far. You've made my day. ~Arcturius


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Heads up, **this is the NON-EXPLICIT version of this chapter**. The explicit version has sexual content, but I wanted there to be a non-explicit version of this story too.

You can find the so-called M-rated version of chapter 3 on A03 (archiveofourown). If you google "Girls of a Feather Purr Together", it's currently the first result.

archiveofourown.****org/users/Arcturius/ (without the stars. I know you can't copy/paste on here, but I don't know what else I can do to make it easier for you all...)

The word count of this (T-rated) version is a fair amount shorter, but it's not like you'll be missing out on important stuff. This version is a complete story. I like both versions.

Regardless of which version you decide to read, I really hope you like it too... ~Arcturius

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

Laughter bubbled forth from Kat as she soared through the air, falling horizontally feet-first across the night sky with Raven's hand clasped in hers. She just couldn't keep it in, the tears slipping from her eyes and into the air. Raven was laughing too, her long hair whipping up from her head like a black and red jet-stream. The wind rushed by them, howling in their ears as the sounds of the government party faded away quickly, replaced by the whoosh of skyscrapers whizzing past.

Kat took a moment to quell the laughs and catch her breath, wiping her eyes with her free hand, and she shouted to Raven over the wind, "Oh my creator! Do you think anyone saw?!"

Raven, still laughing, shook her head, her hair coiling with the motion, "I know one person did! But…" She broke out into more giggles, then choked out, "I… I think it was only him!"

"Did… oh my… did you… " Kat burst out laughing again, more tears springing forth.

They flew past the clocktower, which was dutifully pointing out that it was late, late into the night by this point.

"Did you see… ahaha…" Kat finished, with difficulty. "…His face?"

"Poor Syd, he couldn't handle it!" Raven was grinning, the stream of streetlights below reflected in her blue eyes and on her glowing blue skin as they soared past.

"Oh… my goodness…" Kat said, as she tried to calm herself down.

"Well honestly," Raven yelled, "I'm not blaming him! I can see how he'd find that hard to handle. I kind of did, and I was _part_ of it!"

Kat smiled at Raven and said back, "Yeah, wow! You're… uh, really good … at that! And I know I should be embarrassed about Syd seeing us, and, like, even what I just said right now? Because it's really embarrassing? But you know what?"

She stretched, letting her arms spread out, enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair. "I think I am just all out of embarrassment! Syd's face knocked it right out of me!"

Kat lapsed into giggles again at the memory.

Raven looked over at the girl falling next to her, and after a moment said loudly as the air tried to whip her words away, "Kat… you know you're wrong about that! You don't need to feel embarrassed about it. About… us!"  
She squeezed Kat's hand, "I know it may not be what you originally considered? But… you and I… well, I don't want to hide it, you know? If you want… I think we should make it official!"

Kat blushed, and squeezed Raven's hand happily, "Are you asking me out on a second date?"

Raven smirked, and pulled on Kat's hand so they drifted closer, the air still whooshing all around them, "No, Kat, I'm asking you to be my girlfriend."

Kat grabbed Raven's shoulder and pulled her close, planting another kiss on Raven's lips. When she pulled away, she smiled, her chest feeling like it was glowing (which it was, coincidentally), and said softly, "Only if you'll be mine too."

Raven smiled back at her, and then pulled her into a hug. The two girls' hair whipped together, mixing and flowing like two dragons, holding each other close as they fell faster, not caring about the city flowing beneath them or where they were going.

Kat broke away first, her fingers still entwined in Raven's. She looked at the other girl with a suddenly serious look, "Alright, so I get that I don't have anything to be embarrassed about when it comes to you… But… listen, Raven, there's something I know… that _you_ might be embarrassed about."

"And… what is that?" Raven asked hesitantly, raising an eyebrow.

Kat bit her lip and pointed down, smiling. "You're wearing black panties."

It was true, after all. Raven had apparently forgotten she wasn't wearing her normal outfit that she used to shift, and thus hadn't noticed that her dress had been flipped up against her waist this entire time by the wind rushing past. Kat had been sneaking glances ever since they left the court. It had gotten her pretty hot and bothered, really. Somehow it was different seeing the thin garment and the girl's long, slender legs under Raven's dress than it was seeing her in her usual revealing and tight outfit.

Confusion flitted over Raven's face for an instant but then her eyes widened and she used both hands to hold her dress down, covering herself up as they fell.

"KAT!" Raven shouted, rotating mid-air so that she was flying headlong into the wind, her hair now streaming past her back, some of it whipping in front of her face. She kept needlessly holding her dress down though. "Why didn't you say something earlier!?"

"Becaaause… " Kat laughed, "I knew you'd probably cover yourself. I was enjoying the view. Those are some pretty damn nice panties, I must say. Lacy and all… Really fancy."

While Kat was talking, Raven was steadily turning a deeper shade of purple, the red of her blush mixing with the blue of her skin, and her hair now covering most of her face as she hid her eyes. She spun around as they kept on falling, her back to Kat.

Kat grinned. She knew she was enjoying this too much. But she couldn't help it. Having Raven ask her to be her girlfriend had made her so happy that she was feeling a little giddy and silly.

So she floated closer, and let her hands rest on Raven's shoulders as she said, "Oh, and Raven, seriously though? I do actually know how you feel… when you said how you don't want to hide this or anything. To be honest, I really just want to tell the whole world…"

Raven's shoulders relaxed a little, and she started to turn around, but Kat pushed off her, floating away, and faced downward at the empty city streets flying by beneath them. She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted as loud as she could downwards, "MY GIRLFRIEND HAS CUTE PANTIES OOOOON!"

—-

A little old lady below who happened to be taking her dog for a walk at this late hour of the night was the only person out on the streets in this part of the city. She paused as she heard a faint noise coming from above, and looked up into the sky. To her surprise, she saw two girls soaring through the air above.

"Oh my goodness, that must be the Gravity Queen!" She said to herself as she beamed, giving the two girls overhead the largest wave she could manage.

As the two girls soared out of sight, the old woman watched the sky for a while longer, and then turned to her dog, "I wonder what they were talking about… Don't you, Rufus?"

Rufus snuffled as if in response, and then calmly peed on a tree.

—-

Right after the words left Kat's mouth, Kat heard a yelp and she felt Raven's hand clamp over her mouth as the girl yelled and punched at her.

Kat spun around, laughing, and said, "Mmmmmff? Mmh mmmfghhh!" (_Whaaat? It__'__s truuuuue!)_ into Raven's fingers.

Raven was just shaking her head, pursing her lips, but Kat could tell that the anger was a farce. Raven removed her hand from Kat's mouth and promptly replaced it with her lips, pulled Kat into a hard kiss.

It was not necessarily an easy task, kissing someone while falling at almost terminal velocity through the air. But Kat and Raven managed admirably. Their arms wrapped around each other, clinging together as they fell into the night.

They were, in fact, so engaged and distracted by one another that they didn't notice a red orb suddenly appear around them. Just like at the courthouse, it enveloped the two entwined girls, and disappeared, taking them with it.

(**WLLLAAARP**)

—-

"…Ahem."

The two were broken from their reverie by the sound of a man clearing his throat. It occurred to Kat simultaneously that she could no longer feel the wind rushing by them. Kat disentangled herself slowly from Raven, panting slightly, her face flushed. She slowly opened her eyes, and looked around, her mind very distracted by thoughts of Raven's tongue. Thus, when she made eye contact with the old man standing behind upside-down behind Raven, looking at her placidly, it took several moments for her to sort out what she was seeing. The two stared at each other a moment, and then Kat's mind clicked into place.

"AAAAHHHH!" She shrieked.

Her gravity suspension flicked off due to her panic, causing her to fall straight the few inches down to the ground, straight onto her head. She gritted her teeth as a clang went through her spine from the impact*, and she lay crumpled on the ground for a moment. She felt Dusty rub up against her, purring softly.

Raven looked around, considerably more composed, and realizing the two of them had been floating suspended upside-down over the ground, quickly re-oriented herself and landed on her feet smoothly.

Kat pushed herself up onto her knees, still holding her head, and stared at Gade, who she had made eye contact with, and who presumably had been the one to clear his throat earlier.

"What in the world are _you_ doing here?" she asked, hotly.

Gade raised his eyebrows and smiled innocently. "Whatever do you mean, Kat? This is where I spend my time these days, in case you ever want to revisit any of the Rift Planes. You know that."

Kat stood up and looked around properly now and for the first time realized where they were. The two girls were now standing right outside the entrance to Kat's makeshift home in the sewers. The old Creator, Gade, was standing on one side of the entrance, beaming at the two of them. She glanced behind her and surely enough, the odd little girl named Cyanea was sitting crosslegged on the other side of the entrance. She had her head propped up in one of her hands, but was clearly fast asleep, as usual.

"Ohh," Kat said to herself as the situation finally started to make sense in her head.

"Kat," Raven said cautiously, as she tried in vain to smooth out her hair, which had gotten quite windswept and tangled from their flight. Her bird was perched on her shoulder. "…What's going on? Is this…?"

"Yeah, uh, ok… so Raven," Kat coughed, "Um… welcome to my home! You've… met Gade before, right?"

Raven eyed the old man and his fanciful robe suspiciously, but spoke again to Kat, "He's that Creator, right? The one who supposedly made this world or something? Did he teleport us here then?"

Gade raised his hands in a gesture of pacification. "I did no such thing! For one, I don't have that kind of power anymore, and for two, I wouldn't want to interrupt such a private moment between the two of you!"

He threw a big wink at Kat.

"Gade… " Kat grumbled, throwing a look at the man, "You kind of _did_ interrupt, you know."

"Kat," Gade said apologetically, "It's not my fault the two of you appeared in front of me, locked in your passionate embrace."

"_Gade__…_" Kat said pointedly, her face burning.

Raven glared at him, then turned back to Kat, "So how exactly _did_ we get here then?"

"Well, ok," Kat said, "You remember that trick I did to get us out of the courthouse? With the red portal thing?"

"Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask you how you did that. So did you do that again to get us here?"

"Not exactly." Kat explained, reaching down to scratch Dusty behind the ears. "We… must have gotten… uh, so… _distracted_ that we didn't realize we were flying out past the edge of Hekseville. I've already told Dusty a while ago that if for some reason I head outside the bounds of Hekseville without consciously intending to, Dusty should teleport me back using that power. And I said that if I don't have a place specifically in mind when Dusty uses the power, to just take me back to the last manhole I exited from**. This time, that meant right here!"

Kat gestured around at the wide open sewer-entrance-turned-home they were standing in front of. Dusty meowed proudly.

"Ahh.." Raven said. "So we got too far away from Hekseville and Dusty, following your earlier orders, teleported us here, to your… home."  
She looked around at Kat's little set up, and said, "Huh, interesting."

Raven had never seen Kat's home before, Kat knew, and so she wasn't sure whether Raven's comment was directed at the appearance of the place, or the situation that had gotten them here.

"Yes!" Gade piped up, his hands in his robe pockets. "The two of you appeared with Dusty's power in a red energy, and when it faded you were floating upside down, kissing!"

"_Gade__!__" _Kat said sharply, less embarrassed and more irritated by now, "Ok really, that's enough about the kissing!"

Raven leaned over to Kat and whispered, "Hey, uh, Kat, can you… make him go away or something?"

Kat glanced at the smiling man, and whispered back, "Yeah he's kinda annoying sometimes."

She turned back to Gade, and put on a sweet voice, "Hey, Gade?"

"Yes, Kat?" Gade asked gently.

"Do you think you could… y'know… maybe find a different place to stand for now?"

Gade tilted his head, his wild grey hair rustling, "But, how will you find me if you need to again reach the Rift Planes?"

Kat pursed her lips, "Uh, well I don't think I'll need to access them for the foreseeable future, since I pretty much did everything I needed to do in there, so…"

Gade leveled a serious look at her, "Kat, no one can foresee the future. It is a product of all the actions of the present, and the factors are too many for it to be understood or accurately predicted, even for a Creator. To be safe, I think you should be able to access the Rift Planes, should you find the need…"

Kat let out an exasperated breath, "Ok, then please just go somewhere else in the city, _nowhere near here_, and if I need to find you, I will do so."

"But how will you—"

"_Ohmycreator, _**Gade!**" Kat burst out, "Please! With all due respect, jus—"

"Yes?"

The three of them turned at the sound of the small voice from behind them. Cyanea was still sitting, her chin propped in her hand like before, but her eyes were open, staring at Kat. In fact, her pose had barely changed from when she had been dead asleep, but somehow now Kat could sense that the little girl's body was poised and tensed with energy that seemed ready to leap out. Imperceptibly, Cyanea's energy had shifted from non-existent to fully alert. Kat knew what that meant.

"You called?"

The little girl's mouth had moved again but Kat knew who was talking. This was the "Dream Guardian" that Kat had first encountered in Boutoume, the other being that inhabited Cyanea's body alongside the little girl's true personality. And as Cyanea, the Creator, slumbered, supposedly creating and maintaining this whole world within her dreams, the Dream Guardian watched over her, protecting her body and the dream. That was the story, anyway. Seemed a little crazy to Kat, but she'd seen Gabe and Cyanea do some weird stuff so their power was real to _some _degree at least.

"Oh, hi, uh, Cyanea. Er… I didn't mean to wake you, sorry."

"You didn't.." came the voice. The little girl sat, still motionless except for her eyes, which flicked from Kat to Raven and back. "What seems to be the problem?"

Kat said, trying to sound casual, "Oh, it's nothing, really. Raven and I were just wondering if you and Gade couldn't move your… base of operations for the time being?"

The thing inside Cyanea eyed her closely. "And what if you need access to the Dream world that Cyanea constructed for you? I am your only access and if I am not here…"

Kat covered her eyes with her hand tiredly, "Not you too… Listen, honestly. If I need, I can find you guys! I know my way around this town by now. It's not going to be hard to find two people as conspicuous as yourselves. So please… could you two give us a little _privacy?_ This _is_ my home, after all!"

The gaze from Cyanea's eyes never wavered. "It is of little consequence where we are. If you have need of Cyanea, she will find you."

Kat had no doubts about that, remembering when she had woken up to find Cyanea sleeping in bed with her one morning, almost scaring Kat out of her skin. Cyanea had a way of just showing up places unexpectedly. Most likely thanks to the Dream Guardian's intervention.

"Thank you…" Kat smiled at the girl, hoping that meant that they intended to leave, finally.

Cyanea said nothing, but the girl's eyes closed slowly, and then when they reopened, all of the tension and crackling energy was gone from her frame. She looked blearily around, then finally noticed Kat and Raven standing in front of her. She stood up slowly, wobbling slightly, and then walked toward them.

"Hi Kat, hiii…. Raven," the little blue haired girl said softly with a voice like a song, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Kat smiled genuinely. She was much more comfortable around this Cyanea, even if she _was _a Creator.

"Hi Cyanea," she said.

Raven looked nonplussed.

Cyanea padded past them over to Gade, who had been watching the conversation silently. She stopped in front of him and reached out taking his hand in her small one.

"Mr. Gade, I think we should go now," she said sleepily. "I had a dream that Kat and Raven wanted to be alone for a while."

Gade smiled softly. "Yes I believe you are right, Cyanea." He nodded at Kat and Raven, then started walking away, hand in hand with the small girl. Kat barely heard him say "It is rather late into the night, you know. You should be asleep. Let's find somewhere you can rest."

And then the two Creators were around a corner and out of sight.

Kat breathed a sigh of relief.

"Those two… are quite the interesting pair," Raven said finally.

"No kidding," Kat agreed.

The two of them looked at one another for a while, and then little smiles grew simultaneously on their faces as their newfound relationship flickered back to the forefront of their minds.

Raven looked back at Kat's home, "So, this is where you've been living, Kat?"

Kat chuckled embarrassedly, "Ahehe, yeah…. It's… not much. But it's home."

"It's good," Raven said decisively, her hands on her hips in her usual pose. She paused for a moment, and then looked back at Kat.  
"So…" she started, sounding less upbeat than she had a moment ago, "So I guess this is the end of the night, huh? It's pretty late, might even be morning already. I should probably get back to the apartment; let us both sleep."

She smiled at Kat, sadly. "It's… kind of hard to say goodbye, as dumb as that is. I just don't want to leave… Maybe we can meet up in the morning after we wake up, for breakfast?"

Kat bit her lip, and stepped forward into Raven's arms, entwining her fingers in Raven's hand and leaning forward to kiss her gently. After a moment, she regretfully pulled back.

"What if…" Kat said, looking searchingly into Raven's eyes. "What if… you didn't? Leave, that is."

Raven froze and then asked hesitantly, "Wait, what do you mean, exactly?"

"Why don't you stay the night? You can sleep with me tonight, here…" Kat gestured to the little opening she called home.

Raven looked back at her, seemingly not sure what to say. She repeated what Kat had said, to herself, "Stay… the night? With you? Here? Kat are you sure that's ok with you?"

Kat blushed and continued, "Yeah, well… it's what I want, so, yeah. I'm sure. This place was the first thing in Hekseville that let me feel like I… belong, you know?… And I've realized being with you makes me feel kinda the same way. You make me feel like I belong here, somehow. So… um, will you stay here with me tonight?"

Raven smiled happily, and stood on her tiptoes, leaving a quick kiss Kat's forehead.

"Honestly, Kat, I can't think of anything that would make me happier."

Kat grinned. Her chest felt like it was full to bursting. She took Raven's hand and led her inside.

—-

After pushing past the cloth flap hung over the entrance, Raven took in the view of Kat's house. Although truthfully, there wasn't much to take in. It was literally just a room made from a section of an unused drainage pipe, so there wasn't a lot of space inside. Kat had painstakingly cleaned it and arranged what furniture she could fit, however, and had somehow turned the entrance of a sewer pipe into a functional room. There was a sheet hung up to separate the room from the rest of the sewer system, and a wood-framed bed that took up the width of the pipe. Pictures and newspaper clippings were hung up on the walls, with a few wooden shelves also somehow attached. These shelves, as well as the small dresser next to the foot of the bed, were stacked with books and candles, as well as various was a single blue chair by the bed, and a circular red rug covering most of the "floor" space. Also on the floor was a small basket with padding inside, apparently a cat bed. Adjacent to the head of the bed a crystal-like mirror was hung.

Kat blew out the match she had just used to light some of the candles by the head of the bed, and looked at the dark haired girl looking over her room. It excited her to have Raven in her home, it felt like Raven could now become a part of her everyday life, just like the makeshift room had.

"It's… kinda messy." Kat said, apologetically, kicking a few crates of fruit and empty bottles under the bed.

Raven just looked back at her and smiled. "I love it," she said decidedly.

Kat realized that if anyone would appreciate having a place to call home, no matter what it looked like, it would be Raven.

Kat sat down on the bed and flopped back, taking out the headband she always wore and letting her straight blonde hair fall out. As she hit the bed she could feel the fatigue of the hour set in finally.

"Mmmm…" she murmured. "I love beds."

"Beds are good," Raven said, kicking off her shoes to the side of the room and stepping forward, shaking her still-messy black and red hair out. She stood right between Kat's knees and looked down at her, hands on her hips.

Kat rested her hands behind her head, and looked up at Raven.

"But…" Raven continued, glancing around again. "Where do you wash?"

Kat looked around the room too as if hoping a bathtub and sink would magically appear. "Uhh, well, ok I _do_ shower… obviously… It's just…"

"And what about cooking?" Raven asked, smirking a little.

"Oh, come on. _You _try getting any sort of cooking stuff working down in a sewer." Kat said, sticking out her tongue.

"What about…" Raven said slowly, openly grinning now, obviously thinking of something to criticize.

"I'll give YOU a 'what about'!" Kat said playfully, reaching up and grabbing Raven's hands, and pulling her onto the bed on top of herself.

_Smooth one there, Kat. _She thought to herself, sarcastically. _Good comeback._

Raven let out a giggle, landing on her palms with her knees on the bed, with Kat's prone form right underneath her.

They locked eyes, Raven's hair cascading down over them, so that all Kat could see was Raven's face. The atmosphere was suddenly charged.

Kat swallowed and licked her lips. "So… this is the part of the night where you kiss me again, right?"

Raven's eyes were sparkling in the light of the candles that flickered through her hair.

"Mmmm, very astute," she murmured in agreement, lowering her head ever so slowly towards Kat.

"Hah! See, Gade said the future wasn't forseeable but I totally jus-"

"Nooooo no no" Raven shifted her weight, resting a finger on Kat's lips to quiet her. "You don't get to talk about anyone else but me when I'm about to kiss you."

Kat's heart was beating hard in her chest.

Raven leaned forward, and caught Raven's lips with her own.

Kat let out a pent-up sigh of expectation and she brought her arms up and around Raven, pulling the other girl down as she returned the kiss fervently.

Letting her weight off her knees slowly, Raven pressed herself onto Kat. Kat could feel Raven's body against her, Raven's belly against her own. The weight of Raven's soft form against her own stoked Kat's passion, and she brought her hands up to tangle in Raven's hair as they deepened the kiss.

Kat felt Raven's tongue flick against her mouth and teeth again, and let out a moan in her throat as she let her lips open slightly, allowing Raven's tongue to slip past, seeking deeper. Kat realized that because Raven was lying on top of her, she had free access to the girl's body with her hands. Still engrossed in the dance of Raven's tongue, Kat let her hands slip down from Raven's hair, gliding them over the girl's smooth shoulders and dress, letting them linger on her back and stroking her fingers over Raven's body. She could feel Raven breathing deeply on top of her, and Raven shifted her weight to her elbows as she brought her hands up to tangle her finger's in Kat's hair.

Realizing she was getting distracted, Kat focused again on her hands, moving them lower, slowly, her pulse pounding. She could feel Raven suck in a breath, pausing in the kiss as Kat's hands ran down over Raven's skirt, letting her hands cup Raven's round, firm butt.

But at that moment Raven pulled away, breaking the kiss and lifting herself off of Kat to rest on her outstretched palms. Kat looked up and saw Raven overtop her in the flickering light of the candles, her eyes closed, panting.

Raven squinted her eyes tightly, and with a little whine, flopped herself over onto her back next to Kat on the bed. She brought her hand up, running it through her hair and sighed, trying to catch her breath. She then opened her eyes, glancing over at Kat and smiling that gorgeous smile of hers, made all the more alluring in the candlelight.

Kat was worried she'd gone too far or something, and her face must have betrayed some confusion.

Raven reached down to hold Kat's hand as they lay on their backs, looking at each other, each still breathing heavily, hearts racing.

"God, I could kiss you forever, and never get tired of it," Raven mumbled, looking back at the ceiling and letting her eyes flutter shut.

_Oh, good… I guess I don't suck at it _too_ much…_

"So why don't you?" Kat asked quietly, rolling on to her side to face the other girl, letting her thumb play over Raven's.

Raven let out a soft noise halfway between a sigh and a laugh. "It's late. If we don't sleep now I really will keep you up until the morning. And we need to be able to sleep so we can wake up to get that breakfast together, remember?"

Kat bit her lip disappointedly. _I guess that makes sense_, she admitted. _Getting breakfast with Raven for the first time _would _be fun…_

Raven squeezed her hand, noticing the downhearted expression. "Don't worry, you're my girlfriend now. I'm gonna be kissing you a _lot_ from now on."

That made Kat smile. "That's a promise, yeah? I.. really like kissing you."

Raven nodded. "Duh, I like it too. Easiest promise I'll ever make."

Kat laughed, "Okay then… should we get ready for bed?"

"Yeah, sounds good.'" Raven said, looking over at Kat again with a smile.

Kat sat on the edge of the bed, drinking some water while Raven stood in front of the mirror hanging on the inside of the pipe-turned-room, brushing her hair out with a comb Kat had lent her. Kat smiled as she watched Raven run the comb through her long, flowing hair, working out the tangles. It felt wild having Raven in her home, being together, just the two of them. The only other person who had been in her house with her was Cyanea, and since the odd girl had just sort of appeared there, uninvited, out of thin air… Kat didn't really count that as a proper visit. But now it was especially exciting for Kat, considering that her and Raven's relationship had changed so drastically…

Kat realized they hadn't said much to each other since they had started getting ready for bed. A silence had settled over the room. Not a particularly awkward or cold silence… just… probably a nervous one more than anything.

_My girlfriend is sleeping with me. RAVEN, my girlfriend, is sleeping with me. I have a girlfriend and it's Raven and she's going to be sleeping. With me. In my bed. Ok. Ok? Ok…_

Kat ran the idea through her brain over and over, but it still felt so unreal, so… fantastical. Like this was some dream she would wake up from and realize that she'd only imagined those kisses, those hands around her waist pulling her closer, those beautiful blue eyes sparkling at her…

At the thought, Kat felt an illogical rush of… something bad. Like a leaden pendulum swinging through her chest, pressing on her heart. She hopped off the bed and lightly stepped over to Raven, grasping the girl from behind in a tight hug. Raven paused in her brushing, surprised by Kat's sudden embrace, but she was being squeezed too tightly to turn around and return the hug, so she just stood still, letting Kat hold her. After a few moments Kat let go and took a step back, her fleeting moment of senseless worry already gone.

Raven turned and smiled confusedly, comb still halfway through her hair. "Hey you…What was that for?"

"Oh, nothing really" Kat grinned, sitting down on the blue chair. "Just happy you're here."

Raven smiled, "Me too, thanks for having me."

"Oh don't thank me, that's weird," Kat said, waving her hand dismissively .

As Raven continued brushing her hair out, Kat reached over for her nail clippers. Having Raven here made Kat want to make sure she definitely cleaned up as best she could. She hadn't been able to fit a bath in tonight, but she'd definitely do everything else.

She pulled over a trashcan but paused. _I should do this outside. Maybe it__'__s weird to cut your nails in front of your girlfriend__… __Or maybe not, maybe it__'__s normal. Either way I have to brush my teeth outside anyway._

She grabbed her toothbrush and clippers and started for the flap that led out into Hekseville.

Raven turned, having just put her long hair up into a bun on her head for sleeping, and said, "Hey, where are you going?

Kat paused, wondering whether or not she should mention the nails or if Raven would think it's gross or something. "Oh, uhhh.. Just… brushing my teeth. And… clipping my nails?"

_I suck at thinking under pressure._

"Ooh, actually…" Raven said, wryly looking down at her own hands, "I have this terrible habit of picking at my nails when I'm nervous… And tonight had me reaaaally nervous at times. So… my nails are kind of a wreck now. Would it be super gross of me to ask to borrow your clippers just for tonight?"

She looked embarrassed and shy.

Kat laughed, mostly at herself, "That's so funny, I worry too much apparently. I was just thinking that you might find it weird if I cut my nails with you around. Yeah that's totally fine! You can use them first if you like."

She handed them out and Raven took them, but the other girl paused, and said, "Um… and I know this is asking too much, but do you happen to have an extra toothbrush by any chance?"

"Oh! Duh! Actually…." Kat turned and rummaged around in one of her drawers. "Tah daaaah!"

She held up three toothbrushes, blue, purple, and green, to Raven. "For some reason I could only find packs of four. Worked out though, I guess! Take your pick!"

Raven grabbed the purple one. "Thanks Kat!"

"Yeah! And when you're done, I'll put it with mine, so that one can just be yours whenever you stay over."

Raven's eyes widened a little, and she whispered to herself, "Whenever I stay…"

Kat grinned and handed her a glass wine bottle filled with water. "Here, for rinsing. Sorry I don't have a sink."

"It's ok! Be right back."

Kat watched her slip out of the flap. She looked around and realized that this was the first moment tonight that she'd been alone since she'd met up with Newt and Echo all those many hours ago. She clenched her fists, unable to keep the grin from her face as she did a little happy dance. The excitement and intensity and happiness had been welling up inside her and she felt like she needed to find a way to release some of that energy before she exploded.

Dusty looked up at her dancing from the basket where the cat had already been sleeping with Raven's bird and said, "Mroww".

Kat spun on her toes, "Oh, hush. I can dance if I want to. I have a girlfriend now."

_If I don't get this all out now I'm never going to fall asleep. It's so late but I'm so not tired… S_he thought.

Dusty blinked at her and let out a little sleepy noise that was more chirp than meow, curling up again.

"Thanks. I _am _happy," Kat said, twirling again.

—-

After the two girls had tidied themselves up and everything, Kat stuck Raven's toothbrush in a holder by her own.

"Ok then, um… I don't really have a change of clothes," Raven said.

Kat froze.

_Oh crap._

She wondered what the heck she was going to do. Raven noticed the movement and said hastily, "I can just sleep in this dress or something, no worries. I've… already been asking you for a lot."

"No no… I… uh… I have extra clothes, for sure," Kat said biting her lip, as she rummaged around in her drawer. She pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it to Raven.  
"What I don't have… is real pajamas. I just don't use them."

"Oh, that's ok," Raven said, "I can just like wear this and my underwear. Thanks."

She paused suddenly as if a thought crossed her mind, and then said slowly, "So… what do you sleep in then?"

Kat said, trying to sound casual, "Well I usually sleep nude, but I'll throw on a shirt or something."

Raven's eyes went a little wider and Kat could see Raven's gaze flick over her body from her toes to her head and back. Raven then caught Kat's eye and looked away, embarrassed.

"Ohh, uh, ok. I mean, I don't want to step on your routine or anything, you know. You can sleep however you normally do…"

"No no it's ok, I'll just… I'll make do!" Kat said quickly.

Somehow the idea of sleeping next to Raven without any clothes on seemed a little too forward, although there was a sizable part of her that was excited by the idea. She had never slept with clothes on as far as she could remember, but she'd give it a try tonight. Surely it wouldn't be too different.

Raven bit her lip but didn't say anything, letting her eyes roam over Kat's body again.

"Here, I'll off the lights," Kat said, and blew on the candles, sending the room into darkness. A fair amount of light from the street-lamps and other lights outside seeped into Kat's room at night, despite the cloth hanging over the entrance. So it was nowhere near pitch black in Kat's home. But it was dark enough that with her eyes unadjusted, Kat could only see Raven as a silhouette as the girl stripped off her dress and reached around to unclasp her bra. Kat swallowed and looked away, deciding that focusing on Raven undressing was not going to help settle her mind. She shimmied out of the shorts she'd had on all night and unbuttoned her shirt, wondering without turning around if Raven was stealing glances at her as well. After removing her bra she slipped on another t-shirt and decided the best plan would be to keep her panties on. They were a plain white, unlike Raven's fancy black one that Kat knew she was wearing… right… now.

_Ahhh stop thinking about her panties… _Kat slapped her face a little. _It's time for bed._

The two girls climbed into the bed together, slipping under the light sheet, side by side. Kat rolled onto her side, facing Raven. Raven did the same. Kat could just barely make out Raven's face. The two of them just lay there, looking at each other, for a minute.

Kat reached forward and grasped Raven's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze, "We're not going to get to sleep at this rate."

"Mmm, you're right…" Raven said quietly. "Ok."

The black haired girl raised her other hand, cupping the side of Kat's face gently as she leaned forward, pressing her lips to Kat's in a soft kiss. A moment later she pulled away and stroked Kat's face.

"Goodnight, Kat," Raven said.

"…Goodnight, Raven." Kat said, biting her lip.

Kat thought she saw Raven smile as she rolled over to face the other way, curling up slightly.

Kat paused for a minute, then whispered, "Raven… Are you still awake?"

"Duh, it's been like 30 seconds," came Raven's voice.

"Well… um… can… can I get another goodnight kiss?" Kat asked, rubbing her legs together as she fidgeted. "…That one didn't take."

Raven sighed, "What are you, a little kid?"

But she rolled around and grabbed Kat's neck, pulling the two of them together as she locked Kat's lips with hers, kissing her deeply. Kat purred in her throat and let her fingers rest against Raven's shoulder as she fell into it. Her fingers tightened on Raven's shoulder, gripping it tightly.

But Raven pulled away from the kiss, planting one last quick peck on her lips as if it was a punctuation dot on the sexiest and most teasing sentence Kat had ever heard.

"How about that one? Better?" Raven asked, and Kat, her eyes adjusting to the darkness, could see the girl lick her lips.

"Mmmm… much better…" Kat breathed honestly, although she was still feeling a little disappointed that Raven had broken the kiss before things had gone further…

"Good," Raven said, and rolled over again, to face away from Kat. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight… girlfriend." Kat said, smiling. She heard Raven chuckle.

Kat took a deep breath and thought, _Ok, leave the rest for another time. Now it's time for sleep._

She tried to roll over and face the other way, but the t-shirt she was wearing caught around her neck, twisting maliciously around her. She squirmed, trying to get it straightened.

_How do people even sleep with clothes on? It__'__s so constricting__…_ Kat thought plaintively.

Over the next several minutes, which stretched on for days, Kat tried closing her eyes, counting imaginary birds, and as many unsexy thoughts as she could come up with. But her mind kept rolling back to the amazing feeling of Raven's lips against her own, and the uncomfortable feeling of the clothes on her body.

She tried for another minute, but couldn't stand it anymore. She shimmied out of her panties and t-shirt, and tossed them off the side of the bed.

She whispered over at Raven's side of the bed, "Hey, sorry Raven, but I just don't think I'd be able to fall asleep with the pajamas on. I'll stay way over here on my side though. Goodnight."

A faint noise of what sounded like acknowledgement came from Raven's curled up silhouette.

Kat rolled over onto her back and closed her eyes, sighing. She enjoyed the feeling of the sheets against her bare skin.

_Much better._

With a smile, a minute later she drifted off into a deep, calm slumber, dreaming of many beautiful things like Raven and… cats and… Raven, and flying wine bottles and… Raven, and Raven and Raven and…

Kat opened her eyes and groaned mentally, far from asleep. This wasn't working. She was just too worked up. Having Raven sleeping next to her was driving her crazy. She couldn't keep her mind still. Every time she tried to let her mind drift off, it always drifted to the sexy, beautiful, stoic black-and-red-haired girl with deep blue eyes, the one that had a crush on Kat.

And that's when her consciousness reminded her that said girl was wearing nothing but panties and Kat's own t-shirt, lying only a couple of feet away from Kat.

_Ugh, I'm still doing it. Even if I get to sleep I bet I know what I'll be dreaming about… _Kat thought, her face turning red as the image of Raven's panting, flushed face over her own flashed through Kat's mind.

_No, no, ok. This is bad. I need to…. calm down. Maybe if I just stay really still. Focus on not moving. On slowing down my breathing._

Kat wasn't sure how many minutes it had been since she'd said goodnight to Raven. She just hoped the girl wasn't having the same problems Kat herself was. Kat, still lying on her back, took a deep, slow breath, and held it; trying desperately to slow her quick heartbeat and calm down.

But none of it was working.

She called out to Raven softly, "Hey psst… Raven…"

Raven replied from the other side of the bed, "Again? What?"

"Well… I just…" Kat asked, fidgeting a little. "I was thinking… would it be ok if… if we cuddled a little? I'm having trouble falling asleep. I just keep thinking about you."

Raven turned over onto her back and sighed, "Yeah, I can't get to sleep either. I'm too… worked up. So much happened tonight. It's all jumbling around in my head." She glanced over at Kat's face peeking over the covers. "Thing is though… you _are_ naked, right? Is that… I mean… uh… are you ok with that?"

Kat blushed, inching closer. "Yeah, I can't really fall asleep otherwise. And I was having trouble sleeping because of you here next to me… so I thought, if you were even _closer _to me, maybe it wouldn't be so distracting."

That made Raven laugh. "In what world does that logic even make sense? You're just trying to find excuses to cuddle." But she lifted her arm and said, "But its not like I don't want to, so come here."

Kat grinned playfully and fell limp on the bed, "Raven, I'm just so tired. I can't move. You'll have to come over here and kiss me."

"You're a goof, you lazy cat", Raven said affectionately, reaching her arm down under Kat's neck and pulling the girl gently closer, until Kat was curled up against her side. "Kisses will just get us both more worked up. But we can cuddle."

Kat let out a little noise of contentment, and snuggled closer, resting her head on Raven's t-shirt.

—-

_She actually does sound like a cat purring, _Raven thought with a smile. _But hah, so much for not being able to move._

But it's not like Raven minded. The weight of Kat's head on her chest, the feeling of the girl's eyelashes against her skin, and having her here next to Raven made the dark-haired girl feel truly happy in a way that she hadn't for many, many years.

Raven reached up and stroked Kat's hair and Kat purred again. The two girls lay there, cuddling, for a few more quiet minutes.

Kat spoke up quietly, her voice quiet and faltering, "Um... Raven... is there... a reason you seemed a little distant after we got here?"

Raven closed her eyes. _Ah, damn, she noticed._

"I'm sorry if I came off as distant, really Kat... I didn't mean to." She exhaled, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "I just felt myself getting... a little carried away. I didn't want to push you to do too much in one night. I didn't want to scare you off the idea of liking me."

_That sounds kind of stupid when I hear it out loud, _Raven thought.

"That's kinda dumb," Kat's voice from Raven's chest echoed her thoughts, and Raven laughed.

"I guess it is," she said.

They left it at that. A few minutes passed, Raven stroking Kat's head softly, running her fingers through the soft, blonde hair.

Eventually Raven heard the girl's say softly, ""Wow… ok. Yeah this… helps. I'm actually… feeling super tired now, no joke."

"Good…" Raven chuckled jokingly, "If you snore, though, I'm sleeping in the other room."

"What other room?" Kat said sleepily, not looking around.

"Wow, you really _are_ tired," Raven said, raising her eyebrows. "That was a joke."

"Oh…" Kat mumbled. "Ha… ha…"

She was quiet for a moment, then said with a little more energy, "Raven, you should know… I'm so… I dunno, '_happy_' just doesn't feel like a strong enough word. But for lack of a better one: I'm so, _so _happy right now. You don't even know…"

Raven thought she _did_ know. "No, I feel exactly the same way Kat. This… _you_ liking _me_? It's… honestly a dream come true."

Kat snuggled her head back against Raven's chest, happily. "I've never been in a relationship before," she said. "I don't really know what the next step is."

"Well," Raven said slowly, thinking about how crazy this one night had been, how much closer they'd gotten, and how deep her feelings already were for the small, blonde girl now curled against her. "I don't really know either…"

Suddenly something occurred to Raven that she'd been reminded of earlier.

"Oh, but speaking of… so Kat, remember when we had left the party, and we were just sort of… _going? _Without thinking, we just flew together? Not worrying about where we were headed?"

Kat giggled. "Haha, yeah, when I saw your panties and shouted it out at the whole town? Good times."

Raven tapped the girl's head lightly in admonishment, "Yeah, _that _time. Anyway, thinking back on it afterward reminded me of something Zaza said to me."

"Oh? And what was that?"

Raven took a breath, and pictured her big brother in her head, trying to remember the exact words he used.

"He said once that every life was like a meteor that had split off from a meteor shower… That we don't know where we came from, and we can't even know how far we've really come to get to where we are… And most of all, we don't know where we're going, either… All we can actually _know_… is that we're currently hurtling through pitch black space, going _somewhere."_

Kat was listening quietly. Then as Raven paused, she spoke up, "That's… kind of sad actually."

"I thought so too," Raven said with a smile, "Until tonight. Tonight I realized that even though so much about my past is fucked up, and even I have no idea what's going to happen in the future, with the Nevi, with Boutoume, with _anything…_"

She looked down at Kat, hugged her tightly, and finished, "Now that I know I have you here, Kat, hurtling alongside me through all this darkness… I'm not afraid or sad anymore. I… couldn't be happier, actually… At every instant, all I'll ever need is you."

She swallowed. She felt like she was so bad at this say-how-you-feel stuff, but she had been doing a lot of it over the past hours with Kat. Maybe she was making up for all the lost years she kept everything bottled up inside herself.

Kat sat up a little and looked up at Raven, beaming shyly. She leaned in and gave Raven a soft, sweet kiss on the lips. Then she said happily, returning to rest her head on Raven's chest, "Gosh, careful Raven… If you keep saying stuff like that, I might just fall in love with you."

Raven's heart thumped loudly and she had a feeling Kat could hear it.

"You're just delirious from tiredness," Raven said, jokingly, although her insides were all fluttery.

"Mmm… I wonder…" Kat mumbled quietly from Raven's breast. "All this talk of _meteors_ though, kind of—"

Kat's words cut off abruptly and her body went still. Raven felt the girl's hand slowly clench into a fist against her stomach. She craned her head down to look at Kat.

She waited a few seconds, but Kat didn't say anything, just lay there, frozen.

"Uh, Kat…"

Softly, in a voice barely above a whisper, Kat began to sing:

"_You and I, across the sky_

_Making an ark we twinkle and fly_

_Together we are, a shooting star_

_One constellation from afar_

_A blanket of clouds, to keep us warm_

_And hide away from the rumbling storm_

_It's time for dreams now, so we fall down_

_Born and vanishing in our meteor town"_

Raven lay stunned. She'd never heard Kat sing before, much less realized that she had an _amazingly _good voice, even when used so quietly.

"That was.. really pretty. I've never heard that song," she said, finally.

But then she suddenly felt Kat's shoulders tremble, and with a start, she realized Kat was quietly crying.

"Wha.. Kat? What's wrong?" Raven said in alarm, sitting up slightly, confused, and worried.

Kat wrapped her arms around Raven tightly, not looking up. She said, her voice quiet and sad, "I had… _forgotten_ that song until just now… It's… I think it was a lullaby from… wherever I came from. Up… above Hekseville."

Raven held her breath, not sure what to do or say. She knew Kat had lost her memories of everything of her life before landing in Hekseville, but if she was remembering things now… Raven wasn't sure what that meant. Maybe a normal person would be happy by the idea of Kat regaining her lost memories… but Raven had been through enough to know that sometimes the distant past has more sad memories than good ones.

Kat pressed her face into Raven, squeezing her even more tightly. She said weakly, her voice full of tears, "Raven… don't leave me, ok? Please… Just… Don't ever leave me."

A pain shot through Raven's heart, and she squeezed Kat back, running her fingers through the girl's soft blonde hair again, gently, in a gesture she hoped was comforting. She didn't know what had happened in Kat's past, and she didn't feel the need to know. But she _did_ know what it was like to feel scared of being alone. And she knew neither of them had to feel that way anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere," Raven said, and she meant every word with all of her heart. "I'll never leave you, Kat. I'll always be here to protect you. "

Kat sniffled a little, but seemed to calm down, her arms relaxing from around Raven.

Raven continued, her voice gentle, "Now get some sleep, ok? I'm going to stay right here, and when you wake up, I'll still be right here, in your arms. And we'll get breakfast together, as girlfriends. So don't worry. I won't _ever_ leave. Ok?"

Kat nodded slightly, not saying anything.

Raven held Kat close, stroking the girl's head as the minutes ticked by. Soon she felt Kat's breathing was slower and steadier, the girl's chest rising and falling gently, lightly brushing Raven's side.

"…Kat?" Raven asked, in a whisper.

But there was no response from the girl cuddled up against her. Kat was already fast asleep.

Raven looked down, and smiled at the sight of Kat's face, slack with sleep. And her expression was calm and serene, not sad, which eased Raven's worries. Raven slowly, so as not to wake her, wiped away the lingering wet trail that the tear had left down Kat's cheek.

But Raven still felt a sliver of fear in her heart.

"'Don't leave'… That's my line, silly Kat…" Raven said softly, brushing Kat's hair behind her ears gently.

"If this is a dream," Raven whispered to the sleeping girl, "…then I don't want to wake up. I don't want to _lose_ you, Kat. But… I don't know… I'm scared. What if it _is_ a dream? Is it my dream? Your dream? Someone else's? What if whoever's sleeping wakes up? What will happen to you and me?"

She swallowed, and forcibly closed her eyes, letting her head rest back on the pillow.

_Ugh, look at me. Worrying about all these 'what-ifs'… I'm so dumb. _She thought.

Zaza's words floated back through her mind.

_The future doesn't matter, the past doesn't matter… all that matters, _Raven thought, her tired mind finally slipping into sleep, …_is that we're together now. Two meteors… Flying together…_

She let herself go, and fell into a deep sleep. The two girls slept calmly, their arms wrapped around each other.

From the basket on the ground, Dusty opened one eye, glancing over at the bed. After a moment, the cat purred gently and settled back down.

—-

Far above the sewer entrance, above the sleeping city of Hekseville, above everything, the stars twinkled and gleamed. In a few hours the sun would rise and it would be time for the worlds to wake and go about their day. But for now, everything was calm and peaceful, especially the two magical girls cuddled together in a make-shift home built out of a sewer pipe entrance, deep in the heart of Hekseville.

Overhead, a shooting star silently zipped across the sky.

*~_**Fin**_~*

* * *

Footnotes:

* I figure that Kat really doesn't take any damage from falling anymore, considering you really can jump off tall buildings in the game and land just fine. But that doesn't mean she won't feel the impact somewhat!

** You can actually experience this effect in the game! Just start flying out beyond the bounds of Hekseville and Dusty will dutifully return you as per Kat's instruction. ;)

* * *

Well, here we are. The end. Finally. Thank you for reading, you wonderful person.

But don't be sad! Kat and Raven will live on. They will have their breakfast together, and many more happy times. This was just a recounting of their first night together. And what a night it was.

I don't really think I'll be writing more of this story, but who knows. I do have some ideas...

And besides, I'm going to write more Gravity Rush anyway! _Other_ stories! I've got like... at least 3 others rattling around in my head. The next fic I'll write is Kat/Syd. Get excited!

Once again, thank you for reading my long, awkward, and sometimes cute story about two girls falling in love.  
*heart* ~Arcturius


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